Relive 2025 UCL final: How PSG blew out Inter to claim long-awaited title

Paris Saint-Germain dismantled Inter 5-0 in Saturday's Champions League final in Munich to get their hands on the trophy for the first time. theScore covered the biggest moments and plays in real time below.

What you need to know 📌

• Marquinhos comes full circle
• Lovely tifo for Luis Enrique
• PSG finally get Ol' Big Ears
• Doue calls game for PSG
• Party begins in Paris
• Inter pressed into submission
• Hakimi doesn't celebrate opener

Party rages in Paris 💥

PSG 5-0 Inter
Full time

The Eiffel Tower illuminated the sky in PSG's red and blue colors as fans around the historic Parisian landmark cracked flares and fireworks to celebrate the team's historic victory.

Police had prepared for such an occasion, deploying more than 5,000 officers to deal with any trouble. And by early Sunday morning, they had made 294 arrests, using a water cannon to disperse a crowd that had descended on the Place de l'Etoile, the roundabout that encircles the Arc de Triomphe on the western end of the Champs-Elysees.

Fans also invaded the ring road near PSG's Parc des Princes, immobilizing cars and scooters. Police cleared the way using tear gas, according to RMC Sport, and had to put out multiple fires.

"Let's celebrate but without breaking everything in Paris," Ousmane Dembele told Canal Plus.

Marquinhos has seen it all

PSG 5-0 Inter
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Brazilian center-back Marquinhos is the longest-serving member of PSG's squad and the only holdover from the club's early spending days. Countrymen Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Lucas Moura, Neymar, and Dani Alves all passed through PSG, and Marquinhos outlasted all of them. He also played with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, and Lionel Messi, but he never got to achieve Champions League glory with them.

In a revealing post-match interview with CBS Sports Golazo, Marquinhos, who joined PSG from Roma in 2013 for a bargain of a price at €31.4 million, said he thought of all those players as he processed the club's first major European title.

"I have those 12 years running through my mind now," he said. "In a final, 5-0, it's an explosion of emotions. It just made me feel like I was dreaming. I waited for the whistle and stepped back and just enjoyed that moment."

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, acting as a translator for Marquinhos, said the defender started to cry before the referee even blew the whistle. The magnitude of the achievement wasn't lost on someone who's seen PSG go from an underachieving capital side to the toast of European football.

How did Inter end up trophyless?

PSG 5-0 Inter
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Inter were trending toward a second treble in club history as recently as last month. They had a three-point lead in Serie A and had reached the Coppa Italia and Champions League semifinals. Their depth players came up clutch, relieving a number of starters who had suffered from injuries. Then Inter lost three games in a row — something they hadn't done since December 2017 — and were eliminated by city rivals AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semis. Napoli not only erased Inter's three-point lead but took one of their own.

The Serie A title slipped away when the Nerazzurri conceded a late equalizer to Lazio on the penultimate day of the season, blowing a chance to punish Napoli for dropping points in a goalless draw at Parma. Their Champions League semifinal win over Barcelona gave Inter one last shot at silverware, but they were in no way prepared to handle PSG's ferocious press and slick passing in Saturday's final. They were spent.

Inter came into the season with a good enough squad to win at least one title, but whether it could go all the way in each competition was a serious question. Head coach Simone Inzaghi tried his best to do it. He famously corrected a reporter who asked if he was going for a double, lifting three fingers to confirm the treble was his aim. He rotated the squad as best he could but ultimately couldn't coax any more out of his team after 58 painstaking games.

Is it a failure? Not explicitly. But it's likely the end of this cycle. With an average age of 30 years and 19 days, Inter's starting lineup was the oldest in the Champions League. Inter will net well over €100 million from this Champions League run, and there may be no better time to refresh their ageing roster.

PSG fans unfurl touching tifo 📷

PSG 5-0 Inter
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Luis Enrique has long carried with him the spirit of his nine-year-old daughter Xana, who died of bone cancer in 2019. "You will be the star that guides our family," he wrote on social media after her death. She was there when her father led Barcelona to the continental treble in 2015, planting a flag in the turf of Berlin's Olympiastadion. And he believed she was watching as he helped PSG conquer Europe in a similar way to his swashbuckling Barcelona side. The fans remembered it all, dedicating their post-match tifo to Xana with a touching illustration of Luis Enrique fixing a PSG flag in place with his daughter by his side.

This is Luis Enrique's moment

PSG 5-0 Inter
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The team Luis Enrique inherited was in need of an overhaul. PSG had just let Lionel Messi, Neymar, Marco Verratti, and Sergio Ramos walk away for nothing. Kylian Mbappe announced he wouldn't renew his contract. The team of superstars was about to lose them all. But head coach Luis Enrique saw an opportunity where others saw weakness. A team, a real team, could finally be built. PSG continued to spend loads of money but on young players who could carry out Luis Enrique's hard-working ethos.

Ousmane Dembele, a heavily criticized winger, arrived from Barcelona and became a scoring and pressing sensation, showing the hunger none of his predecessors had shown. Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola injected pace and energy on the flanks. Luis Enrique wasn't afraid to bench Mbappe during his final season at the club and reaped the rewards after he left.

The players totally bought into Luis Enrique's game plan. Even if PSG struggled to convert their superiority into goals and points early in the Champions League campaign, falling as low as 25th in the league table, they eventually found their footing and delivered on the promise they always showed to become the ninth different men's side to clinch the continental treble.

FT: Paris Saint-Germain 5-0 Inter Milan

PSG WIN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 🏆

PSG 5-0 Inter
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The referee has seen enough. There's no added time. PSG have absolutely torched Inter in the most lopsided Champions League final of all time. From start to finish, PSG were stronger, braver, and quicker to every ball. Once they snatched the lead in the 12th minute, they didn't relent, going full tilt until they put five goals past Inter. PSG were the younger side and showed it. They now have their treble and their first Champions League title. The club's Qatari owners have the trophy they've coveted since taking over in 2011.

GOAL PSG! 🚨

PSG 5-0 Inter
87th minute

Nineteen-year-old academy graduate Senny Mayulu becomes the fourth teenager to score in a Champions League final. His goal also gives PSG the biggest margin of victory in Champions League final history. The heaviest wins had been by four goals: in 1960 when Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3; in 1974 when Bayern Munich defeated Atletico Madrid in a replay; and in 1989 and 1994 when AC Milan ousted Steaua Bucharest and Johan Cruyff's Barcelona by four goals to nil.

GOAL PSG! 🚨

PSG 4-0 Inter
73rd minute

Game over. There's no coming back. PSG have totally dominated every aspect of this game and get their fourth goal through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi tried to make some adjustments, subbing on four players with 20 minutes still to go, but they've afforded PSG far too much space and paid the price. This is a staggering performance from a team that prides itself on its defense. But cracks were appearing. They conceded just two goals in their first 10 Champions League matches of the season but have gone ahead and allowed 13 in their last five.

GOAL PSG! 🚨

PSG 3-0 Inter
63rd minute

It's rare to see a teenager score in a Champions League final, and it's rarer still to see one score twice. But that's what 19-year-old Desire Doue has just done. Teammate Ousmane Dembele earned some serious style points for the no-look backward pass that released Vitinha into space, but the Portuguese playmaker was the true architect of the sequence, starting it from deep within PSG's half. Vitinha ran through the gut of the field and set up Doue for the goal. Patrick Kluivert and Carlos Alberto are the only other teenagers to score in a Champions League final.

Warning signs for PSG

PSG 2-0 Inter
55th minute

PSG really need to bury their opportunities to take a stranglehold on the game. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has sent two shots wide and Ousmane Dembele missed as well. PSG's press is spilling into foul territory, and they're conceding cheap free-kicks to Inter. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma hasn't looked comfortable coming out to clear any of Inter's deliveries. Inter aren't dead yet.

The half in two photos 📷

Around 600 miles from the final in Munich, PSG fans celebrated an impressive first half at the Parc des Princes and around Paris, popping flares and smoke bombs under the watchful eye of police.

The mood couldn't be more somber at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, where Inter supporters are struggling to understand how their team is facing a trophyless season after spending much of it chasing a potential treble.

HT: Paris Saint-Germain 2, Inter Milan 0

Set pieces are Inter's friend

PSG 2-0 Inter
41st minute

Inter's only hope of a comeback rests on their aerial superiority. Their taller players have a clear advantage on corner kicks and free-kicks. We've seen two close calls already. In the most recent example, Marcus Thuram easily beat Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to a header at the far post that seemed destined for the back of the net. Luckily for PSG, it went just wide. But this is a formula that's worked for Inter before. They scored three times off corner kicks in their 7-6 semifinal aggregate win over Barcelona.

PSG have done everything right

PSG 2-0 Inter
30th minute

Inter's best chance against PSG was to weather the early storm and somehow cradle the game into a lull. That's when they usually strike and take a lead that they then try to defend. But they could barely muster a pass as PSG monopolized possession and pressed their opponents into submission. PSG are playing like a team that wants to make history and win the Champions League for the first time. The crowd is clearly partisan for Les Parisiens — the loudest chants are typically for the French side — and that has probably helped. Every one of PSG's moves feels meaningful. Inter are usually so composed in defense, but they're scrambling here.

GOAL PSG! 🚨

PSG 2-0 Inter
20th minute

Desire Doue may have scored PSG's second of the night, but the goal wouldn't have been possible without Willian Pacho's goal-line intervention at the opposite end of the field. Pacho kept the ball in play as Inter fought for possession in PSG's end, and off to the races they went. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia carried the ball out of danger and released Ousmane Dembele, who took on two defenders before lifting a pass to Doue on the right. His shot took a deflection off Inter's Federico Dimarco on the way into the net. PSG just did to Inter what Inter love to do to everyone else, hammering them on a counter stretching virtually the entire pitch in a matter of seconds.

GOAL PSG! 🚨

PSG 1-0 Inter
12th minute

Achraf Hakimi scores the first goal of the game, and it's nothing less than PSG deserve. They kicked off with around 70% possession and carved open Inter's vaunted defense with a lovely passing move. Hakimi, who joined PSG from Inter in 2021, was all alone when he tucked in the opener and didn't celebrate out of respect for his former team. Inter seemed content to wait for their chances and strike on the counter in the early stages, but they have no choice but to attack PSG and take more chances now that they're down.

We're off! ⏰

And the 2025 Champions League final is live in Munich. PSG kick the ball right out of bounds. Was that intentional? It doesn't matter. Denzel Dumfries throws it in, and PSG regain possession. The PSG fans are clapping and in full voice.

Is Italy truly behind Inter?

It depends on who you ask.

Legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was clear: If you're Italian, you can't possibly cheer against an Italian team in as big of a game as a Champions League final. It doesn't matter if you support AC Milan or Juventus or Napoli or Roma. Cheering against Inter just because you support a rival is "something small-minded people do," Buffon told La Repubblica.

But Buffon's former Juventus teammate, Alessandro Del Piero, doesn't agree.

"There's so much rivalry in Italy. Having an Italian team reaching the final of the Champions League is a great point. But cheering for them for a Juve fan or a Milan fan? No way. It's unthinkable. It's to be a hypocrite, to be honest," Del Perio said on CBS Sports Golazo. "If you want to avoid it, you can say, 'OK, I'm not going to cheer against Inter, but I'm cheering for PSG.' We have some Italians there. Donnarumma is Italian. Another four players played in Italy: Kvaratskhelia, Marquinhos, and the other two players."

Munich is a place of firsts

The city of Munich has hosted Champions League and European Cup finals four other times. Each one has produced a first-time winner. Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest defeated Swedish side Malmo to become European champions in 1979, PSG's arch-rivals Marseille took a piece out of European royalty AC Milan in 1993 to win their only Champions League title, Borussia Dortmund won on usually hostile territory to lift the trophy in 1997, and Chelsea denied Bayern Munich on their own ground to enter the winners' category in 2012.

There's another interesting piece of history here, too. This is the second time in three seasons Inter have faced a team that has never won a European title before in the final. Manchester City edged Inter to end their drought in 2023.

Lineups are released 📋

The starting XIs are exactly as expected. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia returns to the lineup after missing the Coupe de France final with a severe migraine. Center-back Benjamin Pavard, who played several seasons in Munich for Bayern, has also recovered from an ankle sprain that ruled him out of both legs of Inter's semifinal against Barcelona.

Marquinhos is the only player in PSG's starting XI to have appeared in the 2020 final they lost to Bayern Munich. Inter, meanwhile, start with seven of the players who started the 2023 final they lost to Manchester City.

PSG's XI 🇫🇷

Gianluigi Donnarumma; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, Khivcha Kvaratskhelia

Inter's XI 🇮🇹

Yann Sommer; Benjamin Pavard, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Marcus Thuram, Lautaro Martinez

Donnarumma and Sommer's heroics 🦸‍♂️

PSG's Gianluigi Donnarumma and Inter's Yann Sommer are two of the biggest reasons their teams are in the final. Donnarumma made a number of world-class saves to shut out Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal, but Sommer's heroics in Inter's 7-6 aggregate victory over Barcelona stole the headlines the following day.

As we can see, Sommer leads Donnarumma in virtually every meaningful statistical category in the Champions League.

PSG's journey has been a long one

Think of all the players who've passed through PSG's doors since Qatar Sports Investments took over the club in 2011: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, and Kylian Mbappe took turns as all-time leading scorers before departing. David Beckham, Thiago Silva, Angel Di Maria, Mauro Icardi, Neymar, and Lionel Messi came and went without delivering the one trophy PSG were missing: Ol' Big Ears.

PSG have spent more than €2 billion on transfer fees over the past 14 years. And while they've certainly grown in that time, becoming one of the richest clubs in the world by annual revenue, they've made only one other appearance in the Champions League final - in 2020 when they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.

Though PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi tried to keep Mbappe as the centerpiece of this project, his departure allowed the club to place a greater emphasis on team building.

Led by coach Luis Enrique, Les Parisiens can defend well, set the tempo in midfield, and, crucially, finish off the many chances they create. Luis Enrique moved Ousmane Dembele from the wing and helped turn the much-maligned French international into a Ballon d'Or contender, watching as his creation racked up 44 goal contributions across all competitions.

PSG also bet big on young talent, committing a reported €95-million in transfer fees to 22-year-old Bradley Barcola and teenager Desire Doue. The midseason addition of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, already a Serie A champion with Napoli, armed PSG with even more firepower.

How much money is at stake? 💰

Most of the €914 million in performance-related prize money has already been handed out. Inter have won just shy of €100 million already. PSG come in at €85 million.

The winner will receive €10.5 million — €6.5 million for the victory alone and another €4 million for the Super Cup invitation that comes with the Champions League title.

But the teams will end up making much more. These totals don't include any revenue from media rights. Those will be determined at a later date. The final number for all 36 competing teams will be decided in part by their UEFA coefficient and market value.

So how did we get here?

Inter cruised through the league phase with six wins in eight matches. PSG barely qualified.

The Nerazzurri opened the campaign with a goalless draw against Manchester City that, at the time, seemed like a mighty result. City were defending Premier League champions and not yet sullied by the knee injury that forced out Ballon d'Or winner Rodri for most of the season.

Inter beat Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys, Arsenal, RB Leipzig, Sparta Prague, and Monaco without conceding a goal. A 1-0 loss to Leverkusen was their only blemish of the league phase.

A top-eight finish allowed Inter to bypass the knockout round playoff and enter the round of 16 directly, where they quickly dispatched Feyenoord. Late goals in the first and second leg of their quarterfinal tie against Bayern Munich helped them advance to the semifinals, where Inter tangoed with Barcelona in one of the most memorable Champions League matchups in tournament history.

PSG tumbled all the way down in 25th place with just three goals scored in their first five games of the league phase. But victories over Manchester City, Red Bull Salzburg, and Stuttgart gave them enough points to qualify for the playoff round. That's where PSG really came alive. A 10-0 aggregate shellacking of Ligue 1's Brest awoke PSG's scorers. They beat Liverpool on penalties in the round of 16, survived Aston Villa's comeback attempt in the quarterfinals, and rode Gianluigi Donnarumma's heroics in their semifinal win over Arsenal.