It will be remembered as the strangest of Champions League seasons but it has ended with a familiar name on the trophy after Bayern Munich got the better of Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s final in Lisbon, with their deserved success the result of the remarkable job done by coach Hansi Flick.
There was tickertape at the trophy ceremony and the usual celebratory songs playing over the loudspeakers at the Estadio da Luz as the Bayern players savoured the moment after Kingsley Coman’s goal saw them defeat PSG 1-0.
But it was a bizarre spectacle with the 65,000-seat stadium empty, supporters having been barred from attending the biggest match in club football.
Against first-time finalists PSG, Bayern were worthy winners of their sixth European Cup, their third in the Champions League era.
They won all their 11 Champions League matches this season, an unprecedented feat. They scored 43 goals in that time on a run that included a 7-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur and the stunning 8-2 demolition of Barcelona in the quarterfinals.
They just had the better of the final, even if they were fortunate at times up against the French side’s formidable attack of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria.
Bayern’s line-up featured four survivors from their last final victory, against Borussia Dortmund in 2013. But this was also about the new faces, such as 19-year-old left-back Alphonso Davies, the Canadian international.
“Moments like these you dream of as a kid,” he told DAZN. “I honestly can’t believe it, winning the Champions League is the top level. ”
Highlights
- Bayern Munich are the first side in European Cup/Champions League history to win 100% of their games in a single campaign en route to lifting the trophy (11 wins).
- Bayern Munich have won the European Cup/Champions League for a sixth time (level with Liverpool) and for the first time since 2012-13. Only Real Madrid (13) and AC Milan (7) have been crowned champions on more occasions.
- PSG’s record-equalling scoring streak was brought to a screeching halt by the Bavarians, who shut the world’s most expensive attack out after they had scored in the past 34 consecutive matches. The Parisiens are tied for the record with Real Madrid, who scored in 34 games from 2011-14.
- Each of the last seven teams competing in their first European Cup/Champions League final have all lost, with the last first-time winners being Borussia Dortmund in 1997 against Juventus.