Bayern Munich are champions of Europe after downing Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the 2019/20 Champions League final on Sunday night at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
The hero of the night for the German side was Kingsley Coman, who steered in a perfectly placed header to earn Bayern their sixth Champions League crown to conclude the most atypical of European seasons.
It was also the culmination of a perfect Champions League campaign for the Bundesliga club, with 11 wins out of 11 matches.
For PSG, it was a frustrating night in what was their first Champions League final, as the Bayern defence held PSG’s dangermen Neymar and Kylian Mbappe under wraps for much of the night.
While Bayern had the lion’s share of possession to start, the first real scoring chance fell PSG’s way through Neymar, whose shot required a top save from Manuel Neuer.
That was followed minutes later by Robert Lewandowski’s bouncing shot that struck the post and was hurriedly cleared by the PSG defence.
Bayern were applying their trademark pressure, but PSG were finding some looks via transition and, on one such counter attack, Angel di Maria should have scored only to sky his effort over the crossbar.
Lewandowski was giving PSG’s centre-back pairing fits and the Poland international almost broke the deadlock with a header that required a reaction save from PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
One last chance for each side would go spoiled right before the break when a Bayern giveaway deep in their own half gifted PSG with a scoring opportunity but Mbappe rolled a shot right to Neuer.
Meanwhile, Coman had a shout for a penalty after going down in the area, but referee Daniele Orsato thought otherwise.
After a first half of missed chances, Bayern made good just shy of the hour mark when Joshua Kimmich lofted an inch-perfect cross that Coman steered into net to make it 1-0 to Bayern.
It took several minutes, but PSG finally began to respond and Neuer was called on again, this time with a kick-save to deny Marquinhos after an excellent ball from Di Maria.
Time was running out on the Parisian outfit, but the chances remained few and far between during the second stanza.
If anything, Bayern looked to be closer to the next goal.
PSG had one last chance deep in stoppage time to try to force extra time when Mbappe and Neymar connected in the area, but Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, PSG’s hero in the quarter-final versus Atalanta, was unable to connect on the pass from the Brazilian.
In the end, the night belonged to Bayern, who put the finishing touches on their impeccable European campaign to return the Champions League trophy to Munich for the first time since 2013.
Match Sheet:
0.- Paris Saint-Germain: Keylor Navas, Kehrer, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat (Kurzawa, min. 80), Marquinhos, Ander Herrera (Draxler, min. 72), Paredes (Verratti, min. 65), Di Maria (Choupo-Moting, min. 80), Neymar, Mbappe.
1.- Bayern Munich: Neuer, Kimmich, Boateng (Sule, min. 25), Alaba, Davies; Thiago (Tolisso, min. 86), Goretzka, Gnabry (Coutinho, min. 68), Coman (Perisic, min. 68), Muller, Lewandowski.
Goals: 0-1, min. 59: Coman
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy).
Yellow Cards: Davies (Min. 28) for Bayern Munich, Gnabry (Min. 52) for Bayern Munich, Paredes (Min. 52) for PSG, Sule (Min. 56) for Bayern Munich, Neymar (Min. 81) for PSG, Tiago Silva (Min. 82), Kurzawa (Min. 85) for PSG
Red cards: None
Stadium: Estadio da Luz
