PLAYER RATINGS | PSG 5-0 Inter: Désiré Doué leads Parisians to European glory | OneFootball

Ten years on from clinching his first Treble in Berlin, Luis Enrique has returned to Germany and conquered the continent again even more resoundingly. The Asturian, who had spoken before the game of the motivation of potentially becoming the first coach to lead the Parisiens to the summit of European football, has done so with a team built around dynamism and selflessness. Désiré Doué, who at 19 turned in a career-defining performance in the space of just over an hour, is the best example of that.

Les Parisiens may have had the upper hand in terms of match preparation, given they had wrapped up the Ligue 1 title two months beforehand and faced little opposition in the Coupe de France final, against the now-relegated Reims. Simone Inzaghi’s men, meanwhile, had come up just short in a Serie A title race which went down to the final day.

The Nerazzurri did, arrive in the Bavarian capital bolstered by the returns of captain Lautaro Martínez and France’s Benjamin Pavard, both of whom had been sidelined with injury since the semi-finals. Luis Enrique, meanwhile, made only one tweak to his familiar lineup as Désiré Doué got the nod over Bradley Barcola on the frontline.

PSG’s early spell of domination saw efforts from both Doué and Dembélé fall straight into Sommer’s hands, before an incisive passing move broke the deadlock shortly after the ten-minute mark. As has often been the case this season, Vitinha was central to the goal, receiving the ball back from Kvaratskhelia before threading it through for Doué. With space and time in the box to make the right decision, the Frenchman squared it for Achraf Hakimi to finish into an empty net against his former club.

Decidedly failing to match PSG’s intensity, the Italians would be caught on the break minutes later – this time, Doué finished off the Dembélé-led counter-attack with a deflected shot past Sommer. There would be a smattering of semi-chances for Simone Inzaghi’s men towards the end of the half (notably a header just over the bar after winning an aerial battle with Kvaratskhelia), but their opponnents’ crushing intensity was the defining feature of the rest of the half.

The second half started in a similar vein, as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia saw two chances fall his way only to be denied by what nonetheless remained a robust Inter defence. The nail in the coffin eventually came on the hour mark, as Désiré Doué slid his second past Sommer after being played through by Vitinha. Kvaratskhelia’s strike ten minutes later, after being played clear through by Nuno Mendes, would ensure that the score reflected Les Parisiens’ dominance.

Nearly a decade and a half on from the QSI takeover, PSG have finally reached the summit of European football – doing so without any of the high-profile stars that marked the era until this summer. It’s fitting that Désiré Doué will have been the standout performer of the match, as a player that perfectly encapsulates PSG’s season: a slow and uncertain start, before bursting into life at the turn of the year

Paris Saint-Germain player ratings

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 7

Achraf Hakimi, 8

Marquinhos, 8

Willian Pacho, 8

Nuno Mendes, 7

Fabián Ruiz, 8

João Neves, 7

Vitinha, 9 – Covered the most gound out of anyone on the pitch barring Barella, drove most of PSG’s attacks forward and was the main contributor to winning a intense midfield battle. A typical Champions League night for the Portuguese midfielder.

Désiré Doué, 10 – A career-defining perfomance – two goals and an assist in a Champions League final at the age of 19. Justified his manager’s choice to start him over Barcola, turning in a dynamic and incisive performance across the board, even beyond the goals..

Ousmane Dembélé, 7

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 7 – A misfiring first hour for the Georgian, despite dribbling his way into some promising positions. Made amends with a well-taken goal to dispel any chances of a comeback.

Selected Inter player ratings

Yann Sommer, 3 – The Swiss shot-stopper never really had an oppotunity to repeat his semi-final heroics – instead, he conceded five goals, although they were mostly out of his reach.

Denzel Dumfries, 4

Francesco Acerbi, 3

Benjamin Pavard, 3 – The World Cup winner was only just returning from injury, and it showed against a ruthless counter-attacking side. Substituted early in the second half for Bisseck.

Marcus Thuram, 4

Lautaro Martínez, 3

GFFN | Raphaël J. – reporting from Munich