Internazionale, a year ago, sunk in debt, was passed from the group that controlled most of its actions to the creditor. Paris Saint-Germain is still quite rich, but lost star Kyllian Mbappé and had their investments significantly reduced.
Next Saturday (31), in Munich, these teams will fight for the European title in a Champions League final in which few bet.
In the case of PSG, the decision was reached after the departure of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappé, who played together in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. Mbappé was still in 2023/24, but it was only when Spanish coach Luis Enrique promoted the reformulation he thought was necessary that the way was made to the final.
“Having a player who moved wherever he wanted in the field implied that there were situations of the game I didn’t control,” said the coach, in the scene recorded in the documentary “Luis Enrique: You don’t know any”, available on the Max platform. “Next year, I will control them all. All, without exception.”
With the departure of the attacker with little tactical guidelines, the commander gave more responsibilities to Ousmane Dembélé. Vitinha, shy when she shared the midfield with Marco Verratti-another that broke, ”he blossomed.
Controlled by Qatar’s royal family, the PSG fund has decreased in recent years its investments in the club. And it lives a legal fight with Mbappé, which charges salaries and bonuses and obtained a preventive embargo of 55 million euros (R $ 353 million, in the current price).
Inter, for the standards of the great Europeans, had to close his hand. The club, even before being transferred from the Chinese group Suning to the American Oaktree, had been much more seller than buyer. One of the sales was that of defender Achraf Hakimi, in 2021, precisely to PSG, for 68 million euros (about R $ 400 million, at the quotation of the time).
The way was to bet on athletes who were free in the market, such as striker Marcus Thuram, and veterans, such as goalkeeper Yann Sommer, now 36, and defender Francesco Acerbi, 37. It worked, and Inter left favorites Bayern and Barcelona.
Milan’s black and blue association will find in the final PSG, responsible for eliminating Liverpool, general leader of the classification phase. A decision considered highly unlikely at the beginning of the season.
