Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain face off in a desirable Champions League final to be played behind closed doors in Lisbon.
The final tournament delivered a drama in abundance despite the absence of followers due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The German bayern force broke into the top after knocking down Chelsea, Barcelona and Lyon to approach their sixth European triumph.
Paris Saint-Germain, however, has triumphed over the recent anguish to triumph in their first Champions League final and sign their long-awaited arrival to the top.
Now they hope that Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and their other stars can push them to victory after overtaking Atalanta and RB Leipzig to succeed in the final.
Stay tuned for all the latest updates, adding team news, compilation, live observation and the following reactions to what promises to be a dramatic night.
Paris Saint-Germain XI: Navas, Kehrer, Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat, Herrera, Marquinhos, Paredes, Di Maria, Mbappé, Neymar
Bayern Munich XI: Neuer, Kimmich, Boateng, Alaba, Davies, Thiago, Goretzka, Gnabry, Muller, Coman, Lewandowski
The latest in the Champions League has begun!
Has it sunk again?
To be fair, it will be an amazing game, so I’m sure it will be soon.
Hits abound in the stadium of Light tunnel: just 85 days behind, the Champions League finalists head to the empty stadium.
For football fans, a Champions League final in August is like Christmas in February.
It probably doesn’t make sense, but we’re going to complain.
PSG and Bayern have faced each other eight times before: the Parisians won five of those matches and the Bavarians won the other three.
The recent top game, a historic era in December 2017, saw Bayern win 3–1 in their match at the organisation level.
Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé were on the form, and the neutrals will still be waiting for the same tonight.
Players are warming up in Portugal, but there’s enough time left to do politics before getting stuck in the game.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has said the organization plans to make single-leg matches in the Champions League and Europa League a permanent feature of tournaments.
“I have to say that this formula of one game is more attractive to me than the other formula with two-legged matches,” he told the AP.
“That’s one of the things that has happened through this pandemic. We had to put such a formula in position. We had to play that way, but in the end we see that it’s a very formula.”
“We have noticed that other people need exciting games, that in one game, each and every team can beat each and every team in the Champions League or Europa League.
“So it’s anything for the future … I think in September or October we want to start talking seriously.
“Even if he has fewer matches, he can be higher if he ascends correctly. I see my football and football friends calling me and texting me and everyone is incredibly excited about this system. There aren’t that many tactics.”
Take a look at our full historical report here.
Wayne Rooney believes his former Manchester United teammate Angel Di Maria may be the guy to send PSG back to Champions League glory tonight.
Frenchmans arguably the slight loser of the Lisbon clash due to Bayern’s sensational recent shape.
However, Di Maria recently looked damaging and played a role in the semi-final win over RB Leipzig, scoring once and creating two assists in the comfortable 3-0 win.
And Neymar and Kylian Mbappé are sometimes more praised for their talent than Di Maria, Rooney has subsidised the Argentine winger to make a difference.
“The PSG winner can be Di Maria,” Rooney said. “He’s a wonderful player. When he arrived at United, Louis van Gaal would tell the team, “He’s the only one who can haggle with the ball.”
“Angel works tirelessly on the frame and his performance, vision and are brilliant.”
The three most sensitive PSGs, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Angel Di Maria, will be too hot for Bayern Munich to handle in Lisbon tonight, writes Ashley Cole.
And former Arsenal and Chelsea star, who won the Champions League with Les Bleus in 2012, predicts that the Paris attack squad will make a difference.
“Their attacks are different. The three most sensitive PSGs will run you, they’re fast, they’re fast, they’re sharp,” Cole said.
“While apart from Alphonso Davies, Bayern do not like to go through problems. Array is more of a mixed game and then run a little deeper or somewhere in the offensive third.
“I’d rather mark Bayern’s 3 most sensible because you can do that if you’re not too tight and you need to put pressure on aggressively.”
Of course, both sides are replacing the team that brought them here.
PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas has recovered from a hamstring that prevented him from leaving the semi-final and takes his place among sergio Rico’s postposts.
Bayern’s Kingsley Coman replaces Ivan Perisic on the left wing, which is the first replacement they’ve made since the Champions League resumed.
Paris Saint-Germain XI: Navas, Kehrer, Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat, Herrera, Marquinhos, Paredes, Di Maria, Mbappé, Neymar
Bayern Munich XI: Neuer, Kimmich, Boateng, Alaba, Davies, Thiago, Goretzka, Gnabry, Muller, Coman, Lewandowski
PSG is about to fit the other 41st club to win in the Champions League final (or European Cup).
Possibly they would be involved in the last six groups competing for their first finals having lost all, if they did not recognize this statistic as completely irrelevant, that is.
In the meantime, it will be Bayern Munich’s eleventh final, having played in more than anyone outside Real Madrid.
A win tonight would put them in Liverpool in six European titles.
Both groups reserved their spot at this centrepiece with 3-0 midweek victories.
The French champion, PSG, reached his first Champions League final on Tuesday, eliminating Bundesliga club RB Leipzig.
Germany’s champion Bayern Munich followed the defeats of Chelsea and Barcelona with an impressive victory over Lyon.
So tonight is the third circular France-Germany in Portugal. And there is probably something to say about the dominance of these two countries this season; after all, they are also the last two World Cup champions.
It is far from normal, but it is still the most important match of European club football.
Mirror football will have all the key angles covered in our preparation for kick-off in Lisbon, which is less than two hours away.
First, a brief summary of how we were given here…
The 2020 Champions League final will be played at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the site of Liverpool’s remarkable return from AC Milan to AC Milan opposite AC Milan 15 years ago.
But instead, it is played at the Estadio da Luz de Benfica in Lisbon, the place of The least heroic penalty shootout of England against Portugal (and the defeat at the organisation level against France) at Euro 2004.
Oh, and the latter is also scheduled to take position in May, but there was a global pandemic.
This resulted in a new knockout phase, with all the quarter-finals turning into one-leg issues in empty stadiums.
Welcome to the ultimate Champions League policy through Mirror Football!
More than a year after the start of the festival in the qualifying rounds, a total of 79 groups have been reduced.
There are two remain: Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are waiting to stand with the Champions League trophy above their heads in Lisbon tonight.