Monday 12 / May / 2025
Liisbon: A thrilling feast of attacking football it wasn’t, but a high-quality game was settled by Kingsley Coman. The man born in Paris 24 years ago and discarded as a teenager by the club he supported as a boy — and made history as the youngest player to ever represent them — has now made history against them. For all the money thrown at the PSG project by their Qatari owners, the source of the winning goal is more than a little ironic.
The crucial moment was a header at the far post in the 59th minute, but the simplicity of the finish belied an incisive Bayern move that involved Thiago Alcantara and Joshua Kimmich. The German champions and cup winners had come into the game as favorites but struggled to impose themselves as an attacking force, with Robert Lewandowski going closest in the first half when his quick pivot and shot came back off the post on 22 minutes.
It wasn’t a game that created the number of opportunities many expected, and PSG showed a resistance many thought was beyond them — but Bayern were clinical when their moment came.
Record breakers
Bayern become the first team to win the Champions League by winning all of their games, but that just scratches the surface of what they’ve achieved in this phenomenal season.
The highlights of their campaign have been the 7-2 battering of Tottenham Hotspur in October and the 8-2 thrashing of Barcelona just over a week ago, which contributed to the 42 goals scored in 10 games, producing a higher goals-per-game ratio than any previous winners. But to focus on the numbers, detracts from the beauty with which this Bayern team play the game.
The Bavarians end the season 30 games unbeaten — including 29 wins — and Lewandowski finishes the season with a stunning total of 55 goals, a seemingly endless season in which the Pole has scored as a 30, 31 and 32-year-old. The striker has resisted the calls of Real Madrid and others during his time at Bayern, and his decision to remain in Bavaria has finally been vindicated.
Flick defies the odds
While it may seem like everything Hansi Flick touches turns to gold, the man with the Midas Touch had some big decisions to make before the game. He resisted the urge to take a more conservative approach given the quality of opposition, and instead sacrificed the in-form Ivan Perisic with Coman. It was a surprising call given the Croat's form, but Flick's decison-making was on the money yet again.
Flick’s achievements since replacing Niko Kovac in November have been nothing short of miraculous. Kovac’s final game was a 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, a game where Bayern were so insipid that this kind of night seemed beyond their wildest dreams. In a few short months Flick has galvanized the team, reinstated Munich’s favorite son Thomas Müller, and established a brand of flowing, progressive football that is the envy of Europe. One wonders what he'll do in his second season.
Bayern have reached the promised land, and along with Jupp Heynckes, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Dettmar Cramer and Udo Lattek, Flick has joined the pantheon of Bayern greats.
