Football has many unexpected turns and the story of Kingsley Coman in one such example. On Sunday night, the 24-year-old Bayern Munich star scored the only goal that condemned his former side PSG — a club he has been with since he was eight — to defeat in the Champions League final.
When Kingsley Coman stepped off the bench to make his Paris Saint-Germain debut in February 2013, some may have believed they were witnessing the emergence of a player who could help lead the French outfit to the European success they craved.
Then the Qatar project came in but Coman, who made just two further league appearances for PSG, departed for Juventus in the summer of 2014. He then moved to Bayern in 2015-16 before completing the move permanently in 2017.
Yesterday was the most important night in PSG’s history but their former star in Coman, who was not banked upon, poured cold water on their continental dreams.
One way to describe the scene would be: A man from Paris, who played for Paris, whose father supported Paris, scores goal that stops Paris winning a first ever European Cup that was also invented in Paris.
860 million was spent in the last 8 years by the Qatar project but PSG’s most important player had his say by scoring the goal that mattered, unfortunately he did it for Bayern. Not deemed good enough to play with the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, Coman provided poetic justice and a telling blow.
He has won the Champions league and described it as ‘extraordinary, a great joy. “I feel a bit sad for Paris. They’ve had an extraordinary journey. We must respect what Paris have done.
“We tried to put a lot of pressure on them. We didn’t concede a goal, that’s the most important thing. It was a great final.”
Coman, who had also missed out on France’s winning 2018 World Cup run through injury, was not even expected to be in the starting lineup against PSG.
A surprise change by coach Hansi Flick brought the speedy Frenchman in for Ivan Perisic, with Coman on a good day strong in one-on-one situations and quicker than the Croatian down the wing.
The coach’s move proved a masterstroke as Coman, lurking at the far post, beat defender Thilo Kehrer and headed in a Joshua Kimmich cross for the winner in the 59th minute.
