Paris Saint-Germain Blows Past Inter to Win First Champions League Title in Franchise History

    ⚽️ ⚽️ Paris Saint-Germain5, Inter Milan 0 ⚽️  ⚽️ 

There was always this nagging uncertainty regarding Paris Saint-Germain's efforts to win the Champions League title. They had come close before. Several times, actually.

Yet, they never seemed quite able to get the job done.

So despite having had a great tournament, and reaching the final once again, there was that nagging question of whether they actually could get the job done or not.

Could they finally win it all? This would be, after all, their most prestigious title in franchise history, if they managed it. No small feat.

Then again, Inter Milan is a solid team. Can PSG really measure up?

In the end, those doubts were answered, and relatively quickly.

Yes, PSG not only showed up, but they came to play with determination and a singular focus. 

Winning was one thing. And of course, I hoped that they would.

But routing Inter Milan? Leaving absolutely no doubt?

That was the shocker.

Yet, it started early. In just the 12th minute, right-back Achraf Hakimi found the back of the net, to put PSG up, 1-0.

A good start, for sure. But it was early still. Anything could happen.

But a few minutes later, attacking midfielder Désiré Doué broke through in the 20th minute, adding to PSG's lead. They now had a little bit of a cushion. And they managed to keep it that way for the rest of the first half, taking that 2-0 lead into the locker room.

Of course, the key would be to prevent any kind of a rally by Inter Milan in the second half. Try to keep a clean sheet, and perhaps, if possible, add even more cushion to the lead. This PSG managed to do, as Doué scored yet again, this time in the 63rd minute.

PSG was now up, 3-0. They were so close to finally winning this elusive title, once and for all. And time was running out for Inter.

Any remaining suspense ended just about ten minutes later, when PSG winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the 73rd minute, icing the victory. With PSG enjoying a 4-0 advantage very late in the game, any serious chance of an Inter comeback was now pretty much gone.

Then in the 86th minute, young PSG midfielder Senny Mayulu scored the game's final goal, giving PSG a frankly astonishing 5-0 lead, with just a few minutes left in the game.

Suddenly, it was a rout. PSG had not only won, but managed to do so in a landslide.

And so, for the first time in franchise history, Paris Saint-Germain have won the very prestigious UEFA Champions League title. They are the champions.

What is almost shocking is that they won this title without much of the star power which they enjoyed in the past. After all, this was a franchise which had, at one point or other, had some of the biggest names in the game on the squad, including Messi and Mbappé and Neymar and Ronaldinho and Beckham.

Yet, it felt like they won this title largely with an absence of really big names. And they left no doubt about it, for that matter.

What a feat!