We are at that moment of the year when we love to say that “it seems that we are watching another sport, compared to football that is played in Brazil”: the final stretch of the Champions League.
The decision is a few hours from now on Saturday (31), in Munich, between PSG and Inter Milan. And that means that for the first time in four years, a final will not have Real Madrid or Manchester City.
Since 2011, a team from England or Spain always wins – the exceptions have been Bayern Munich in 2013 and 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Other than that, it only gave Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool and City.
France against Italy in the Champions final, so we don’t even talk about it: the last time was in 1993, when the Olympique de Marseille beat Milan in the first champions league with that name and format. The French never had a champion again. The Italians only celebrated titles, since then, with Juventus in 1996, with Milan in 2003 and 2007, and Inter Milan in 2010.
How much the definition of the names that have come this far has to do with the new Champions —com 36 teams instead of 32 and league phase instead of groups, we don’t know. But the new outfit of the competition, in general, pleased. Interestingly, it will be the first time the two finalists have faced themselves in the history of the tournament.
This Saturday’s match should also help define who will be the favorite of the two best player in the world in 2025: The Golden Ball, delivered by France Football magazine, and FIFA’s awards.
If you give PSG champion, Ousmane Dembélé can come out in front of other names considered strong, such as Liverpool Mohamed Salah, and Barcelona’s Raphinha.
In recent months, Dembélé has become a player and became a goal -scoring machine with 33 this season, more than in the last five together. Salah and Raphinha had excellent seasons for their clubs, winning Premier League and La Liga, respectively. But including a Champions League title in the curriculum often weighs on the choice.
The favorite PSG seeks the title with which they dream the most and never won, even though in the past a star team with Messi, Neymar and Mbappé. He created a better team version, with collective football with intensity, technique and creativity, under the command of Luis Enrique (and of course with a lot of money).
Inter Milan wants to rescue the glory of a past where Italian football was dominant – as it is for a moment. And it is after a different end of the 2023 edition, when it lost its decision to City. Regardless of who wins, after the semifinals against Barcelona, with a 7-6 on the aggregate score, the passage of Italians through this Champions is already unforgettable.
Although there is still an abyss between Real Madrid, the biggest winner, with 15 titles, and the following –Milan with seven, followed by Liverpool and Bayern, with six each – it is interesting to see the focus change.
Knowing that teams from the five great European leagues can win the Champions League can only be good for football. The end of City’s dominance at Premier League, for example, did the English Championship well. There is no high level competition that resists criticism when it becomes predictable.
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