2025 UEFA Champions League final — Paris Saint-Germain vs Inter Milan | 5-0

[Theonas]

City played bad this year. But Guardiola's teams in the past usually played sublime, high scoring football. If that is 'robotic', more 'robotic' teams would be great.

Makes you wonder why he was the only manager that anyone who led a major European club wanted him. Bayern sacked a treble winning one for him. Abramovic chased him. City targeted him and him alone and gave him the keys to do whatever he wanted. They all must be insane. Not to mention all these coaches who try to copy him. Strange world where everyone wants a piece of such robotic football producing man.

 

[utdalltheway]

Luis Enrique's daughter who died a few years ago with a PSG shirt next to him

"The PSG fans unveil a huge banner of Luis Enrique and Xana planting a PSG flag. Enrique, smiling broadly but also awash with emotion, clearly appreciates the gesture. His t-shirt, which has a cute cartoon representing him and Xana with a PSG flag, comes with the caption: We are the champions! What beautiful and touching tributes." Guardian

Thanks. You know I'd forgotten about Luis Enrique's personal tragedies.
Glad for him today as he looked so happy.

 

[Bepi]

No worries, dear friends... Inter will be awarded a cardboard CL once City get demoted!

Hoot Hoot

 

[Alex99]

City played bad this year. But Guardiola's teams in the past usually played sublime, high scoring football. If that is 'robotic', more 'robotic' teams would be great.

There has also been an element of "death by 1000 cuts" about Pep sides as well.

It's why they've found themselves, at times, completely nullified by a pretty crap team. No space, no party.

 

[Blood Mage]

A match to showcase what a terrible idea 3 at the back systems are. Wingers are the most exciting players in the world still.

 

[Rado_N]

Scored more than his xG, that means he’s shit, right?

 

[Stocar]

It's amazing the length people would go to. Enrique himsefl would tell you how much his football owes to Pep. When Pep's Barcelona, Bayern and City were at their best, they were just as dynamic and quick as it gets. You'd hear endless tributes by the likes of Iniesta, Robben and many others on how Pep's football gave them the best platform to show their skills. It's like people refuse to recognize, that any style not executed well, like several Pep copycats, will look pedestrian and slow by definition.

And at the same time they will nostalgically reminiscence about the most dire, basic and opportunistic football. Brilliant.

 

[Malone_Post]

A match to showcase what a terrible idea 3 at the back systems are. Wingers are the most exciting players in the world still.

It’s just such a horrible formation.

 

[Pintu]

True but to be fair and to give it more context. That PSG side had to beat Leipzig and Atalanta to get to that final. This one had to beat Liverpool and Arsenal. This side is simply much, much better than the 2020 one.

This team is better but it also had the luxury of losing many games in the group stage and stay in it and get time to replace Dembelé and buy Kvara and come back stronger in January to fix everything. City and Stuttgart games would have been much tougher for them back in November/December.

 

[Glorio]

PSG were obviously heavy favourites but this was a remarkable bottle job

 

[Theonas]

This team is better but it also had the luxury of losing many games in the group stage and stay in it and get time to replace Dembelé and buy Kvara and come back stronger in January to fix everything. City and Stuttgart games would have been much tougher for them back in November/December.

True, they really got away with it in the first half of the season.

 

[Mb194dc]

Scored more than his xG, that means he’s shit, right?

It means he got lucky this game but it'll even out over a lot of games. Just like it has started to for Inter... Who scored 11 goals from 6xGin the last two rounds... Finally found out.

 

[Stocar]

There has also been an element of "death by 1000 cuts" about Pep sides as well.

It's why they've found themselves, at times, completely nullified by a pretty crap team. No space, no party.

It happens to all dominant teams when they start to face parked buses, and lose energy and freshness. To be fair, Guardiola has proven to be quite stubborn in his methodical approach, sometimes to his teams detriment. But in the end, his Barcelona team changed the modern football for better.

 

[2 man midfield]

It means he got lucky this game but it'll even out over a lot of games. Just like it has started to for Inter... Who scored 11 goals from 6xGin the last two rounds... Finally found out.

I don't think you could describe either of his goals in this game as lucky.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

I dream for the day Utd has a team that possesses the quality and puts the level of effort in as this PSG side. Excellent all round.

 

[Blood Mage]

It’s just such a horrible formation.

If you want additional cover at the back have one of the full-backs tuck in, you should never have three CBs on the pitch unless you're a crap team.

 

[Red Star One]

Can’t get my head around how massacred inter got today

 

[TheGame]

I dream for the day Utd has a team that possesses the quality and puts the level of effort in as this PSG side. Excellent all round.

Yep agree, such great attacking football and passing it around with ease.

 

[Alex99]

This team is better but it also had the luxury of losing many games in the group stage and stay in it and get time to replace Dembelé and buy Kvara and come back stronger in January to fix everything. City and Stuttgart games would have been much tougher for them back in November/December.

The extra games and change in format has confused what people expect. They won four and drew one of eight games. Not stellar, but winning half of your games probably got you through in the old format too. Adding a draw in almost certainly you got you to the knockouts.

They also lost to Bayern, Arsenal and Atletico, and they'd have avoided at least two of them in the old format, if not all of them. They even had to play City too.

In fact, in the old format, they'd have definitely avoided City and been drawn, at most, against one of the three sides they lost against.

 

[sourdough satellite]

Scored more than his xG, that means he’s shit, right?

Not at all, Harry Kane for example outscores his xG consistently, but he is outlier that regard.

 

[That_Bloke]

PSG were obviously heavy favourites but this was a remarkable bottle job

Nah, PSG killed them from minute one. They never let Inter catch a break.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

City played bad this year. But Guardiola's teams in the past usually played sublime, high scoring football. If that is 'robotic', more 'robotic' teams would be great.

I never said anything about robotic. I like robots. There's even a robotic dog who can dance!

 

[Alex99]

It happens to all dominant teams when they start to face parked buses, and lose energy and freshness. To be fair, Guardiola has proven to be quite stubborn in his methodical approach, sometimes to his teams detriment. But in the end, his Barcelona team changed the modern football for better.

I don't deny his influence on modern football.

I do think he has a tendency to be robotic in approach. It's very stats and percentages driven, which can be ruthlessly efficient when it works, and completely devoid of flair and creative spark when it doesn't.

 

[That_Bloke]

Spurs are going to be vaporized in the Super Cup.

 

[VorZakone]

I dream for the day Utd has a team that possesses the quality and puts the level of effort in as this PSG side. Excellent all round.

2007/2008 Man Utd. Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo upfront.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

If you want additional cover at the back have one of the full-backs tuck in, you should never have three CBs on the pitch unless you're a crap team.

Blasphemer!

 

[Pintu]

Spurs are going to be vaporized in the Super Cup.

Not necessarily. Paris won’t be ready after the CWC. They will win but they won’t play it with the intensity of a CL final.

 

[That_Bloke]

Not necessarily. Pari won’t be ready after the CWC. They will win but they won’t play it with the intensity of a CL final.

Good point.

Completely forgot about the CWC.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

A match to showcase what a terrible idea 3 at the back systems are. Wingers are the most exciting players in the world still.

It's true this. Has a team ever been entertaining playing this way? Can think of teams who've done well like Chelsea and Juventus but they weren't great to watch

 

[Stocar]

I don't deny his influence on modern football.

I do think he has a tendency to be robotic in approach. It's very stats and percentages driven, which can be ruthlessly efficient when it works, and completely devoid of flair and creative spark when it doesn't.

Sure, all teams get tired and lose flair. No one can play free flowing football forever, especially when the opposition starts camping in their own half.

But that's the thing. I will always be on the side of the team that plays the high line, wants the ball and wants to play in opponent's half. When someone sets up that way, every game can be entertaining by default - if the opposition doesn't decide to stay in their half and play on the counter.

"They won't give the ball' is the most ridiculous argument ever. That was the main complaint for the classic Spain team. They apparently made the game boring. But when teams lauded 'direct' played against Spain, somehow they all would all decide to camp in the safety of their own half. The exception to rule was Italy in the 2012 final. And look what happened then.

 

[NoPace]

I mean, they did.

Easy to forget that they also made the Champions League final in 2020. It's not as if this PSG made the CL final and the Neymar and Mbappe side didn't. The difference is that PSG came up against a great Bayern side that had Lewa, Muller, Thiago, Davies, Kimmich, etc, and PSG today came up against Inter Milan with, well, Acerbi, Mhki, and a slew of other bang average overachievers.

That's not to take away from today. It was one of the most exceptional final performances in CL history, but we also can't revise history. That PSG team of individuals did get this far; they just lost to a far more superior team than PSG played today.

The midfield trio who started the final was Paredes-Marquinhos-Herrera and the fullbacks were Bernat and Kehrer(!). The forward trio and CBs were great but you're just not going to play transcendent football in a CL Final like we saw today with those 5 guys as your middle band of 5 players. It's obviously better if you replace a midfielder with Verratti, but you can't have a team with Kehrer/Bernat/2 of Paredes/Herrera/Marquinhos the DM (As a DM he was a very, very good CB) out there and tell me it's as good as this one, where the weakest players are I guess Pacho, assuming he's not some great CB (too early to say) and then Doue looks really good, everyone else is quality.

Hakimi vs Kehrer is a bigger mismatch than Neymar vs Kvara.

 

[HTG]

Makes you wonder why he was the only manager that anyone who led a major European club wanted him. Bayern sacked a treble winning one for him. Abramovic chased him. City targeted him and him alone and gave him the keys to do whatever he wanted. They all must be insane. Not to mention all these coaches who try to copy him. Strange world where everyone wants a piece of such robotic football producing man.

We didn't sack Heynckes back then. He retired.

 

[Theonas]

We didn't sack Heynckes back then. He retired.

I stand corrected. But wasn't the plan to get Pep regardless? I am basing this on the story of when he was approached by the Bayern hierarchy and Sir Alex during his stay in the US.

 

[Alex99]

Sure, all teams get tired and lose flair. No one can play free flowing football forever, especially when the opposition starts camping in their own half.

But that's the thing. I will always be on the side of the team that plays the high line, wants the ball and wants to play in opponent's half. When someone sets up that way, every game would be entertaining by default - if the opposition doesn't decide to stay in their half and play on the counter. "They won't give the ball' is the most ridiculous argument ever.

I just think his sides have looked particularly clueless against deep line, park the bus opposition.

They don't actually try anything else. They just keep passing it sideways and backwards in hope that an opening will miraculously appear.

 

[kouroux]

A match to showcase what a terrible idea 3 at the back systems are. Wingers are the most exciting players in the world still.

Amen

 

[Theonas]

I just think his sides have looked particularly clueless against deep line, park the bus opposition.

They don't actually try anything else. They just keep passing it sideways and backwards in hope that an opening will miraculously appear.

When they're not good, yes, they did look clueless. Barcelona, Bayern and City under him always played against sides that park the bus and the majority of the time, they still managed to win by the largest scorelines creating the most chances.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

That's the best team I've seen since the Barca team. Unbelievable.

Too early to say this, but they are a hell of a team and one I could see hitting elite heights.

Makes you wonder why he was the only manager that anyone who led a major European club wanted him. Bayern sacked a treble winning one for him. Abramovic chased him. City targeted him and him alone and gave him the keys to do whatever he wanted. They all must be insane. Not to mention all these coaches who try to copy him. Strange world where everyone wants a piece of such robotic football producing man.

Pep is revered because he’s a world class manager with a pedigree for winning titles, that isn’t up for debate. But his teams have and always played mind numbingly boring football. Effective yes! Entertaining, not for me (and many others). Whilst Enrique clearly believes in the same principles of possession play, he’s evolved the formula to take far more risks, press more aggressively than before, and put a team first approach in place. This PSG team are like combining 09 Barca with Klopps Liverpool and it’s electric at times. Fullbacks popping up in the box or the opposite wing. A striker dropping in between the CBs, the positional rotation is genuinely insane is a genuine evolution in the possession formula. I truly believe this PSG team have the tools to dominate world football over the next couple seasons.

 

[weetee]

True but to be fair and to give it more context. That PSG side had to beat Leipzig and Atalanta to get to that final. This one had to beat Liverpool and Arsenal. This side is simply much, much better than the 2020 one.

Have to partly disagree a bit here: the 2019-2020 side was amazing when Thiago, Marqinhos, Verratti, DiMaria, Neymar and Mbappé were all fit (+ Cavani). That was a brilliant axis - as it happens that was very rarely the case.. So yes, the much more homogenous group now is perfectly balanced but with Neves, Fabian and Vitinha their core was also injury free come crunch time.

Great football on display here though, perfection.

 

[Theonas]

Pep is revered because he’s a world class manager with a pedigree for winning titles, that isn’t up for debate. But his teams have and always played mind numbingly boring football. Effective yes! Entertaining, not for me (and many others). Whilst Enrique clearly believes in the same principles of possession play, he’s evolved the formula to take far more risks, press more aggressively than before, and put a team first approach in place. This PSG team are like combining 09 Barca with Klopps Liverpool and it’s electric at times. Fullbacks popping up in the box or the opposite wing. A striker dropping in between the CBs, the positional rotation is genuinely insane is a genuine evolution in the possession formula. I truly believe this PSG team have the tools to dominate world football over the next couple seasons.

So you really don't think Barcelona 2009-2011 were boring? I mean to each his own and notions like entertaining and boring are very subjective. No one really can argue that. But there is a consensus among football's fraternity that for example Brazil 1970 were entertaining. That the Dutch teams of the past were entertaining and Pep's teams fall into that same category. No one gets copied and imitated just because they're effective. Mourinho was effective and yet he never had all the top clubs in Europe chasing him, he was even rejected at his peak specifically because of reservations about his football. Perhaps the word entertaining is inaccurate but looking to always be on the ball, pressing high and creating chances is certainly not viewed as boring by most football fans.

 

[Stocar]

I just think his sides have looked particularly clueless against deep line, park the bus opposition.

They don't actually try anything else. They just keep passing it sideways and backwards in hope that an opening will miraculously appear.

Maybe you are a bit biased? "Exceptionally clueless" for serial winning, high scoring teams that broke various records? Who are those other coaches whose teams are so much better and productive against low blocks?