Champions League final: What is the star taste? Who dares to say that the Paris Inter Milan competition is not good?

Sports Weekly All-Media Special Reporter Wu Haoyu

As the first season of the new version of the Champions League, the results of the 2024-25 Champions League final were officially released on this day. After eliminating Barcelona and Arsenal in the semi-finals, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain will play against the Allianz Arena Munich on June 1 to determine the first champion of the new version of the Champions League.

Compared with the predictions at the beginning of the season and after the start of the knockout round, the final match of this Champions League final is indeed somewhat beyond expectations from all walks of life. Although both teams have entered the Champions League final in the past few years, compared with the favorites in the championships such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Manchester City, Bayern and Liverpool, Inter Milan and Paris are indeed difficult to be optimistic about before the start of the season. Even when the draw results of the knockout round were settled, not many people were optimistic that the two teams could finally make their way out of their respective knockout rounds.

Before the official start of this season, Inter Milan and Paris have experienced major changes. The Nerazzurri officially changed hands in June last year, ending the 8-year Suning era. Oak Capital became the owner of Inter Milan club. Although it reached the Champions League final in 2023 and won the Serie A championship in 2024, few people were optimistic that Inter Milan, which had just changed hands and had not made much achievements in the transfer market, can compete for the new season's Champions League trophy. Paris officially bid farewell to the "superstar era" last summer. With Mbappe leaving the team to join Real Madrid, the luxurious frontcourt composed of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi created by the Qatar royal family for the team was disintegrated. The frontcourt became a "local gang" of Dembele, Douai and Balcola. It is difficult for the outside world to be optimistic that this team lacking star flavor can make achievements in the Champions League.

After the new version of the Champions League starts, both teams have also "started in a low-key manner". Inter Milan focuses on a steady and stable appearance in the league stage. Inzagi's team only conceded one goal in 8 games and advanced steadily as the fourth in the league stage. In the knockout round, Inter Milan first passed the level of Feyenoord, who had previously blocked Milan outside the 16-strong goal, and then faced Bayern and Barcelona one after another. Both the Nerazzurri defeated their opponents and advanced in a relatively unpromising manner. In the two rounds of the semi-finals, Inter Milan, with a relatively old average age, staged two famous games with Barcelona, ​​which was storming in youth, and finally blocked Barcelona, ​​who was in a hot state, outside the final goal.

Paris's Champions League trip is even more magical. Luis Enrique's team draws an absolute "death schedule" in the league stage. After losing to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern one after another, Paris seems to be about to say goodbye to the Champions League this season, but it was from the home reversal that defeated Manchester City 4-2 at home that Paris began a counterattack journey, massacring Brest 10-0 in two rounds in the knockout play-off; Liverpool, the top favorite in the league stage, narrowly eliminated Villa in two rounds; in the semi-finals, facing Arsenal, who is in high morale after defeating defending champion Real Madrid, Paris directly defeated his opponent in two rounds and entered the finals. After a long journey of 16 games, Paris was finally able to compete with Inter Milan to Munich Allianz Stadium.

Whether it is Inter Milan, which is mainly veterans or Paris, which abandons the superstar policy, it can be said to rely on the overall situation to conquer the world. Except for Lautaro Martinez and Dembele, the "star flavor" of the two teams is not too strong. And this final battle is of great significance to both teams and the league they are in. The last time Inter Milan reached the top of Europe was in 2010. They failed in front of Manchester City two years ago. If they could win the championship as they wish in this game, it would not only be the Nerazzurri once again after 15 years, but also the first time a Serie A team has reached the top in 15 years.

Paris reached the Champions League final for the first time during the epidemic in 2020, but eventually fell in front of Bayern. Both Chelsea and Manchester City achieved a breakthrough in Champions League trophy after their rise, and both experienced the final defeat before realizing their dreams. Can Paris win the cup this time and officially realize the transformation from a "nova" to a giant? If it can win the cup, Paris will become the second Ligue 1 club to win the Champions League after Marseille, and it will be the second Ligue 1 team to stand at the top of Europe again after 32 years. It is worth mentioning that this final will be the first time Inter Milan and Paris have met in an official match. The previous few matches between the two teams were from pre-season friendly matches, which undoubtedly made this final battle full of new ideas. After 210 minutes of the famous game with Barcelona in the semi-finals, Inter Milan's lineup, which is relatively older on average, will face the challenge of Paris, which also relies on young players to conquer the world. Compared with Paris, which is already restless in the league, Inter Milan still needs to fight to defend the title in Serie A. Whether to continue to let the veterans out of the two lines, or to make every effort to prepare for the Champions League final, Inzaghi needs to make a decision. If he can win the Champions League with Paris, Dembele, who directly participated in 31 goals after entering 2025, would have great hopes to compete for the Golden Ball Award. With a new and suspense-filled final as the end of the new version of the first season of the Champions League, there is probably nothing better than this.