Kingsley Coman haunted his former side as the Bayern Munich forward scored the only goal of the game to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League final on Sunday.
The 24-year-old was a product of the Parisians’ youth system, making three league appearances before joining Juventus on a free transfer in 2014.
Coman headed home Joshua Kimmich’s cross from close range on the hour following a nice move by the German champions. The French international had terrorised Thilo Kehrer all evening. The German right-back was arguably started because of the disruption, allowing Thomas Meunier to leave to Borussia Dortmund on 1 July.
There wasn’t much between the two teams at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon and but for Manuel Neuer putting in another superb performance between the posts, on another day, PSG may have lifted the trophy.
However, Thomas Tuchel’s side came up short. Particularly the front three. Kylian Mbappe had a couple of shots blocked and Neymar had a good effort well saved by the German number one in the first half.
Angel Di Maria came up with an excellent cross to setup a chance for Marquinhos early in the second half but otherwise the Argentine was quiet down the right wing.
Neymar simply did not show up. Aside from his effort in the first half and his theatrics to win a couple of free kicks, the Brazilian had little to offer all game, let alone justify his world record transfer fee.
However, the two wide men in particular, were playing a different game to what they were used to. Paris Saint-Germain are used to dominating possession but saw less than 40% of the possession in the Portuguese capital. Neymar and Di Maria had to do a lot of defending and pressing for their side.
As for their striker, Kylian Mbappe was slow in his decision-making and made poor decisions in the final third, seemingly too nervous to take an effort on goal. He looked tired in the second half. The 21-year-old had only recently returned from an injury suffered in the French Cup final.
Credit should also go to Bayern Munich for winning their sixth Champions League title. They played their game, they did enough to win and they kept PSG’s expensive front three very quiet.
Although Kimmich struggled in the opening 20 minutes as the French side took the game to Bayern, the defence and midfield grew into the game and ultimately took control of it.
Hansi Flick’s side rarely looked like conceding in the second half and looked like they were going to double their lead shortly after Coman’s opener.
PSG are set to get back to domestic action immediately with a trip to RC Lens this Saturday in their 2020-21 Ligue 1 opener.
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