UEFA Champions League Final: The Road to Lisbon

So, the UEFA Champions League Final is finally upon us. The 2019/2020 Champions League season has already given us some fantastic moments from the emergence of Eerling Håland, Atlético Madrid stunning Liverpool at Anfield, the feel-good story of Atalanta, RB Leipzig reaching the semifinals, Ligue 1 not really a farmer's league and Bayern's absolute destruction of Barcelona. The final was to take place at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul on May 30th. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the latter stages of the competition were postponed until August with UEFA deciding to play the latter stages in Portugal, with no fans in attendance. The restart continued where we left off and now, we have our finalists with Ligue 1 Champions Paris Saint-Germain facing Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich on Sunday at the Estádio da Luz. For PSG, this is their golden opportunity to get the holy grail they crave while Bayern is achieving a treble for the second time in the club's history. Here is each team's road to Lisbon.


PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN (PSG)



Before the Qatari takeover in 2011, PSG wasn't the top dog in French football. They were behind the likes of Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Monaco. They have dominated France ever since winning seven out of the last eight league titles, scooping cup competitions like water and bringing in the likes of Thiago Silva, Marco Veratti, Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Neymar and Kliyan Mbappé, which has boosted the club's profile.  However, they have struggled to bring that dominance in France to Europe with the Remontada (Barca 6-1 PSG) their most embarrassing moment in Europe. This season, they topped their group which consisted of Real Madrid, Club Brugge and Galatasaray. Their 3-0 victory against Real Madrid in Paris was a real marker for them as they brushed the 13-time champions aside. In the round of 16, they faced Borussia Dortmund. Although they lost the first leg 2-1 at the Westfalenstadion, they beat the Black and Yellow 2-0 in Paris, winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate. In the quarterfinals, they faced a surprise package, Atalanta. They faced heavy pressure against the Serie A side and were losing for a majority of the game. However, two stoppage-time goals from Marquinhos and Eric Choupo-Moting gave the Parisians a dramatic 2-1 win to get into the semifinals for the first time in 25 years. In the semifinals, they faced Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, who had a great run in the competition themselves. However, they were unable to match the French side as PSG won the game 3-0 and will be playing in the Champions League Final for the first time in their history. They are the first French side to play in a Champions League Final since Monaco in 2004. PSG have tried to be at the top table of European football but to no avail. They have also been heavily criticized for being backed by the Qataris, as many see them as a pawn to improve Qatar's image. The likes of Neymar and Mbappé were brought in to get to this position under German manager Thomas Tuchel, who has achieved what Blanc, Ancelotti and Emery have failed to do. For Neymar, winning the Champions League will cement his legacy in Paris and vindicate his move from Barcelona to Paris. He has missed the knockout games that PSG has played over the past two years due to injury. Now, the stage is set. He wouldn't be alone though. They still have the experience of Thiago Silva, the brilliance of Marco Veratti, the speed of Kylian Mbappé and the guile of Ángel Di Maria. They are now one game away from achieving the holy grail. Can they finally do it?


BAYERN MUNICH

 

Bayern Munich is one of the teams that have a rich history in the Champions League. They have won the competition five times with only Real Madrid, AC Milan and Liverpool having more titles. They last won the competition in 2013 under Jupp Heynckes, beating Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund. Along with winning the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal that season, they were the first German side to win a treble. They have been unable to reach the final since but have reached the semifinals in four of the last six seasons. Despite winning the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal this season, things weren't great from the beginning with the players unsure of manager Niko Kovač. The Croatian was eventually sacked, current manager Hansi Flick was appointed and Bayern has not looked back ever since. In the Champions League, Bayern has won every game that they have played. They topped their group which consisted of Tottenham Hotspur, Olympiakos and Red Star Belgrade. They won six out of six, scoring 24 goals. In the round of 16, they faced Premier League side, Chelsea. The tie was already over from the first leg as Die Roten won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and won the tie 7-1 on aggregate going into the quarterfinals. In the last eight, they faced Spanish stalwarts Barcelona in a mouth-watering clash. The game became one of the most consequential games in the competition's history as the Bavarians made Barcelona look like boys, beating them 8-2. It was a performance that sent waves across Europe, putting fear in anyone that gets in their way and making them heavy favourites to win it. In the semifinals, they faced Ligue 1 side, Lyon. They beat the French side 3-0 with Serge Gnarby scoring a brace. They are now back in the Final, which will be their 11th Final appearance. The team is stacked with quality players from back to front. Despite having a young squad, they still have some of the players that last won it in 2013 like Manuel Neuer, David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Müller. The star man for Bayern and probably the best player in the competition this season is Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker has been incredible for Bayern this season, scoring 55 goals this season with 15 in the Champions League. He is only two goals off levelling Cristiano Ronaldo's best goal-scoring season in the competition with 17, which was done in 2014. This has been an incredible season for Bayern and Hansi Flick, who hasn't been a manager since 2005 and could complete his first season at the Allianz Arena with a treble. Only Ferguson, Heynckes, Guardiola, Mourinho and Enrique have achieved that in their managerial careers.