13h ago 13.11 EDT With only a couple of hours to kick off, it’s time for me to hand over to the master. Scott Murray is on duty for the next five or six hours, a shift that will hopefully include a classic Champions League final. Thanks for your company, emails and comments below the line.

May the best team win! Champions League final – Paris Saint-Germain v Inter: live Read more Share Updated at 13.16 EDT 13h ago 13.08 EDT Our chief football correspondent David Hytner tells us that, on the way to the ground, there were scores of stickers of PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi’s face with a line across it. You know, the no-smoking symbol.

Bayern Munich’s supporters displayed a similar banner when the teams met during the league stage in November; the club then apologised to PSG after the game. View image in fullscreen Spotted at a Munich U-Bahn station this afternoon. Photograph: David Hytner/The Guardian Share 14h ago 12.55 EDT Inter are wearing their third strip tonight, which could be good news for Chris Martin’s bank balance should they win and a TV company find themselves in urgent need of a montage soundtrack.

View image in fullscreen A view from the Internazionale dressing-room. Photograph: Mattia Ozbot/Inter/Getty Images Share 14h ago 12.49 EDT “As a Welsh Liverpool fan, that 2018 final was a confusing mess of contradictory feelings,” writes Matt Dony. “I so badly wanted Liverpool to win, but a Bale performance for the ages confused matters.

It’s hardly a new or unique talking point, but I still don’t understand how he scored that goal. The physics just don’t make sense. The angle and height that ball reached him, his body position, and the final direction of the ball.

Those things simply don’t align. What a player. What a magnificent, incredible player.

And what a time for him to pull that goal out of the air. My heart was broken, and swelled with pride, all at the same time.” Share 14h ago 12.38 EDT Whatever the result, it’d be nice to have a classic game tonight. The last truly great final was probably Liverpool’s win in 2005, and it’s seven years since we more than two goals were scored.

Actually that 2018 final, remembered for Gareth Bale and Lorus Karius, was a brilliant game for 80 minutes. 2017-18 Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool 2018-19 Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham 2019-20 Bayern Munich 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain 2020-21 Chelsea 1-0 Man City 2021-22 Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool 2022-23 Man City 1-0 Internazionale 2023-24 Real Madrid 2-0 Borussia Dortmund Real Madrid win Champions League as brilliant Bale sinks Liverpool Read more Share Updated at 12.38 EDT 14h ago 12.32 EDT “A difficult day in Ireland?” sniffs Simon McMahon. “Try living in Scotland.

If I decide to follow the big match, I’ll be missing Episodes 3 and 4 of The Mart on BBC Scotland, following the trials and tribulations of the livestock auctioneers at Thainstone Mart. It’s the pedigree ram sale tonight, and Finlay is under pressure to get good prices. The CL final is a walk in the park compared to this.” Urgh, I miss living up there.

Share 14h ago 12.17 EDT One hundred and sixty four minutes to kick off. And I bet/pray that sentence hasn’t appeared in the Guardian too often down the year. View image in fullscreen Paris Saint-Germain fans gather outside the Allianz Arena.

Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Reuters Share 14h ago 12.01 EDT “It’s going to be a difficult day in Ireland,” begins Eric Dunn, “for everyone here that doesn’t own a television (ie me). The Guardian MBM commentaries are invaluable to me. However, the RTÉ iPlayer (other iPlayers are also available) will allow me to watch tonight’s match in glorious Technicolour©® on my €75 smartphone.

“That’s where the dilemma now materialises: Killinaskully is on RTÉ 1 while the first half of tonight’s match is on RTÉ 2; do I miss the mirth that Pat Shortt guarantees me on RTÉ 1 to watch possibly a dour first half, or do I persist with the full 90 minutes (plus added time plus possible extra time plus possible penalties). Could be a long night without some mirth. Do viewers in other countries have similar dilemmas?” We used to have fun and games like this in England, but that was before Sky launched their 17th dedicates sports channel.

My advice, which is worth £0.00 and subject to no legal recourse, is to skip the first half and watch Killinaskully. With respectful nods to Leeds v Blackburn in 1997 and Reading v Man Utd in December 2012, the majority of football matches crescendo, right? Share 15h ago 11.47 EDT Internazionale's route to the final League stage (4th out of 36) Manchester City (A) 0-0 Red Star Belgrade (H) 4-0 Young Boys (A) 1-0 Arsenal (H) 1-0 RB Leipzig (H) 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (A) 1-0 Slavia Prague (A) 1-0 Monaco (H) 3-0 Last 16 Feyenoord (A) 2-0 Feyenoord (H) 2-1 Quarter-final Bayern Munich (A) 2-1 Bayern Munich (H) 2-2 Semi-final Barcelona (A) 3-3 Barcelona (H) 4-3 aet View image in fullscreen Francesco Acerbi celebrates his remarkable injury-time equaliser against Barcelona.

Photograph: Mattia Ozbot/Inter/Getty Images Share 15h ago 11.43 EDT PSG's route to the final Luis Enrique’s side were in all sorts when they picked up only four points in the first five games, but their European campaign gathered instant momentum with a mighty comeback from 2-0 down to beat Manchester City in January. League stage (15th out of 36) Girona (H) 1-0 Arsenal (A) 0-2 PSV Eindhoven (H) 1-1 Atletico Madrid (H) 1-2 Bayern Munich (A) 0-1 Red Bull Salzburg (A) 3-0 Manchester City (H) 4-2 VfB Stuttgart (A) 4-1 Playoffs Brest (A) 3-0 Brest (H) 7-0 Last 16 Liverpool (H) 0-1 Liverpool (A) 1-0 (PSG won 4-1 on pens) Quarter-final Aston Villa (H) 3-1 Aston Villa (A) 2-3 Semi-final Arsenal (A) 1-0 Arsenal (H) 2-1 View image in fullscreen Khvicha Kvaratskhelia thunders PSG in front against Aston Villa. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters Share Updated at 11.48 EDT 15h ago 11.27 EDT Nick Ames' preview This was published last night but as the match hasn’t started it remains as fresh as it was 19 hours ago.

PSG face an Inter team whose individual gifts are more familiar. There is something of the old-school Serie A about Simone Inzaghi’s side, although that is not to overlook their capacity to construct moves of sweeping beauty. They can pass through lengthy periods of a match barely noticed, before surfacing to land a decisive blow.

Lautaro Martínez fizzes with emphatic, relentless Argentinian intensity; Marcus Thuram is a swift, smart accomplice, and then there are the wiles of those further back. They will probably not dominate the ball, but nor will they eschew it to the extent José Mourinho encouraged when they last ruled Europe in 2010. PSG close to scaling summit but could old-school Inter end wait for glory?

Read more Share 16h ago 10.41 EDT Another plug for Jonathan Liew’s fine – and depressing, but that’s not his fault – piece on the clash of styles between PSG and Inter, on and off the pitch. In a way, the pivot-to-likable is simply another example of Parisian/Qatari soft power, the ability to reshape a narrative, another perfectly executed branding exercise by a state where women can still lose their right to financial support if they refuse to have sex with their husband “without a legitimate reason”. Read more… Share Updated at 10.49 EDT 16h ago 10.36 EDT On this day in 1989, Simon Garner’s last-minute goal in the playoff final first leg flattens Crystal Palace and puts Blackburn on the cusp of a return to Division One after 23 years away.

(Ian Wright had other ideas.) Share Updated at 10.36 EDT 16h ago 10.26 EDT Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes – how’s this for a tenuous link to tonight’s big game – would surely make an XI of the Best Players Never to Appear in a Champions League Quarter-Final, Never Mind a Final. He’ll never achieve that ambition if he moves to Saudi Arabia this summer, and you can probably insert your own joke here about what his chances are if he stays at Old Trafford.

Either way, Fernandes has today posted a slightly cryptic Portuguese quote on Instagram, which translates roughly as follows: If you tried and failed, congratulations! There are people who don’t even try. Share 16h ago 10.05 EDT “Inter were champions of Europe in the year I was born and again when I was 45,” writes our friend Krishnamoorthy V. “I am 60 now and you do not need any more signals to back them tonight.

The paradox of irresistible force vs an immovable object shall be settled.” While I wouldn’t dispute the essential characterisation of each team, it’s hard to reconcile Inter as immovable object with that deranged 7-6 win over Barcelona in the semi-finals. View image in fullscreen Jose Mourinho celebrates Inter’s Champions League win in 2010. His career hasn’t reached the same heights since.

Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters Share Updated at 10.07 EDT 16h ago 10.00 EDT Lovely day for a kickabout View image in fullscreen Internazionale supporters play football near the fan zone at Odeonsplatz in Munich. Photograph: Anna Szilágyi/EPA Share 17h ago 09.58 EDT On this day in 1977, some unforgettable defending gives Wales their first – and to date only – victory at Wembley. Share 17h ago 09.47 EDT Fifa v Uefa This is a fine – and depressing, but that’s not his fault – piece from Nick Ames on another contest taking place in Munich this weekend.

Surface temperatures have, at least, cooled since a number of European delegates at the Fifa congress walked out this month in protest at Infantino’s prioritising of meetings in the Middle East. A conciliatory public statement from Uefa saw to that, although nobody should assume all is forgiven behind the scenes. There is little love lost between their respective leaderships and the summer ahead is only likely to intensify the power struggle for the future of the elite game.

Champions League final the calm before storm as Uefa and Fifa battle rolls on | Nick Ames Read more Share Updated at 10.41 EDT 17h ago 09.40 EDT Elsewhere in the big, wide world of football, England women hammered Portugal 6-0 last night. Suzanne Wrack has picked out five talking points from that game. The sight of Lauren Hemp in the starting XI against Portugal was welcome.

As was that of Alex Greenwood and Georgia Stanway, who were on the bench, coming on. All three have been in a race against time to be fit for the Euros and they showed what England has been missing this year. Hemp was electric on the left and her teammate Grace Clinton said: “Out of possession, in possession, she’s an unbelievable player.

She’s got one-v-one, she’s got dribbling, she’s got pace with her runs in behind, she’s got everything.” Five talking points from England’s win over Portugal | Suzanne Wrack Read more Share 17h ago 09.32 EDT “Right,” says Matt Dony. “Hang on. The gap between 1969 (distant past) and 1985 (modern times) is clearly orders of magnitude greater than the gap between 2010 and now (mentioned at 1.39pm).

“Without using a calculator, I’m sure we can all agree that 1969 to 1985 is probably a 40yr gap or so. 2010 was about three years ago. I don’t know what kind of sick games you’re playing with maths, but something there doesn’t add up.

Anyway. PSG have played the best football of any team I’ve seen this year. I really hope they win a close, exciting game.” See what your inner calculator makes of this, Mr Liverpool: Steven Gerrard’s eye-catching international debut was 25 years ago today.

And if you really want to get a sense of how long ago it was, I had a full head of hair. Adams steals the Macca show Read more Share 17h ago 09.27 EDT On this day in 1973… Ajax beat Inter 2-0 in the European Cup final. Uefa won’t allow us to embed their official 88-second videeo, but you can find it right here.

Share 17h ago 09.16 EDT Classic smash-and-grabs Alvin Choong has written in with three, all involving Chelsea. It’s not compulsory for one of the teams to have the same first two letters as your surname, mainly because I don’t fancy trawling the history of Smethwick Rangers for the next few hours. Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona 2009 (Barcelona win on away goals) Barcelona 2-1 Chelsea 2012 (Chelsea win on away goals) Bayern 1-1 Chelsea (Chelsea win on penalties) Share 17h ago 09.09 EDT The expected XIs Luis Enrique and Simone Inzaghi have both done a one-tick number me, so what follows is uninformed speculation.

At best. Paris Saint-Germain have everyone available, so Luis Enrique’s main decision is whether to pick Desire Doue or Bradley Barcola in attack. Doue started both legs against Arsenal so you’d expect him to start.

There are two main areas of interest in the Internazionale team. Yann Bisseck, Benjamin Pavard and Stefan De Vrij are competing for the third centre-back position. Either Federico Dimarco or Carlos Augusto will play at left wing-back.

Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Doue/Barcola, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia. Internazionale (3-5-2) Sommer; Bisseck/Pavard/De Vrij, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco/Augusto; Martinez, Thuram. Share 18h ago 08.57 EDT On this day in 1961… Benfica became the first team not called Real Madrid to win the European Cup.

Share 18h ago 08.45 EDT Smash y grab department Just out of interest, can anyone think of a more smash-and-grab steal than Liverpool's 1-0 in Paris in that first leg ? I immediately thought of Bayern Munich 1-2 Man Utd in the 99 CL final and Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool in the 01 FA Cup Final. Any more ?

? stooze 31 May 2025 12:50pm We did a Joy of Six a few years ago which includes two all-time classics: Brazil v Argentina at Italia 90 and Inter v Sampdoria in a Serie A title decider the following season. I’d argue 1999 is a slightly different type of steal because, although Man Utd did nothing as an attacking force for 85 minutes, Bayern only really had chances when Sir Alex Ferguson rolled the dice.

For the first 70 minutes, almost nothing happened in either penalty area. I didn’t see the PSG game but it sounds like Alisson was making brilliant saves all night. Slightly different, but there was a game in Turin in 1996 when Man Utd stole a 1-0 defeat.

Juve were so superior that you thought United could never reach that standard. Share Updated at 08.55 EDT 18h ago 08.32 EDT Handover: That’s my stint done and I shall now hand over to the esteemed Rob Smyth to guide you through the afternoon’s news. Share 18h ago 08.30 EDT I think Raphinha and Lamine Yamal can also lay claim to the Ballon D’Or though, like Salah, they won’t have a Champions League winners’ medal to boost their case.

A Spanish domestic double and a close-run semi-final ain’t bad, though. Share 18h ago 08.26 EDT An email from Kári Tulinius: I was struck by the thought, seeing excerpts from the interviews with Ousmane Dembélé and Lautaro Martínez, that one of those two will be a serious contender for the Ballon d’Or after the final. If you’d told me a year ago that this would be the case, I’d’ve imagined that some kind of unfortunate accident at a Nike photo shoot had twanged the hamstrings of every player more likely to grab that particular gong.

What a season they’ve both had. Mo Salah and his army of fans may beg to differ, Kári. Share 18h ago 08.17 EDT There’s plenty of Club World Cup debate at the moment, even sitting as we are in the looming shadow of a Champions League final.

Not quite sure I’d agree with the below take. It’s certainly a take. Winning the Club World Cup will be the biggest achievement in club football, which ever team does it.

Agree or not, it is bigger and tougher competition than Champions League. ThingsILike 31 May 2025 11:27am Share 18h ago 08.10 EDT Everton have announced they have triggered the option to make Carlos AKA ‘Charly’ Alcaraz a permanent signing from Brazilian side Flamengo after the midfielder initially joined on loan for the second half of last season. The fee, naturally, has not been disclosed.

The former Southampton midfielder made a big impression at Goodison Park and will hope to do the same at the, er, Hill Dickinson Stadium. Share 18h ago 08.04 EDT Our writers' previews from Munich I am a sucker for grown athletes crying. I am a sucker for the entire subs’ bench exploding onto the pitch at the moment of victory.

I am a sucker for great footballers from opposing teams solemnly congratulating each other after the game. I am a sucker for coaches commiserating with their sobbing teenage winger. I am a sucker for the reserve striker who came on in the 119th minute strolling around, unsweaty and trying to process exactly what their feelings should be at this moment.

It goes without saying, then, that the two of three minutes after the end of a big final may just be my favourite bit in the whole of sport: unbridled, totally unscripted, and ultimately the point of the whole distended, hyper-commercialised show. Paris 2-0 Inter. Jonathan Liew The Champions League final is set up for one (or maybe more) of the Paris Saint-Germain front line.

It seems as though fans of every stripe have got on board with Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola, mainly because of the off-the-cuff thrills that they provide. They have come to feel even more refreshing in a game where micro-managed systems stuff holds sway. Of course, PSG want control.

Within that there is freedom. Yet finals are for winning, not just playing and decorating with snazzy flashes, and it will be fascinating to see whether the quartet can be decisive, including the one who is used off the bench. Dembele brings the experience.

The others are young and will surely feel the hammer of their hearts. David Hytner This feels like the most closely matched Champions League final in the past decade. It’s scorching in Munich and the question is whether we see a slow burner or the kind of rip-roaring tie both sides have come to specialise in.

Maybe Inter’s capacity to find a way will come handy once again. The PSG chair Nasser al-Khelaifi told me yesterday that his nerves were under control but I suspect they may have been shredded by full time. A close, dramatic 2-1 Inter win.

Nick Ames I am looking forward to seeing how Inter play. We know what PSG will do: follow the system, run like demons, squeeze every space, dominate the ball, give it to the front three to create. But the word here from those who have been around the place is that Inter are very confident, that they believe they have the experience and the force of will to make a young PSG team blink tonight.

This may or may not be true. But who doesn’t love a wily, grizzled, super-confident, slightly vicious sounding Italian team. I still make PSG favourites and definitely if they score first.

A goalless first half and Inter might start to enjoy it. My score prediction: no idea. But it will be tight.

Barney Ronay Share 19h ago 07.55 EDT Manchester United’s players didn’t particularly enjoy their post-season tour of Asia, by all accounts. They won one and lost one in Malaysia and Hong Kong but the extra travelling and commercial commitments proved unpopular with players fatigued from their mammoth Premier League effor– oh, hang on … Anyway, Matthijs de Ligt has at least backed the blunt approach taken by Ruben Amorim in recent press conferences, with the defender reflecting on the manager’s communication style. “I’m from Holland so I like it,” he told the BBC.

“I can understand the media are in shock because normally this doesn’t happen. But I think you can also be really happy that finally someone speaks out, says what he thinks and speaks the truth. “I really appreciate him in our conversations personally.

It gives me a feeling I can trust him and he can trust me. “He’s really into details. Before signing new players, first he’s looking at the culture, what needs to change and what can be improved to become a better football club.

From next season we will see more of that.” Share 19h ago 07.43 EDT Away from the big match Ed Aarons has been predicting the (very near) future, outlining the major transfers we could well see this summer, with a short window opening on 1 June for a period before the Club World Cup. From Ekitike to Garnacho: transfers to look out for this summer Read more Share 19h ago 07.38 EDT The guys from Reuters have been out and about chatting to PSG fans in the German city. Chef Zoumana Meite, 28, told them he was looking forward to the game and had a “good feeling” about it.

“If we win tonight, it will be a sleepless night,” he said. “Yes, it’s a big night… As a Parisian, it’s something to experience.” As for security, Deborah Mbwebwa, a 29-year-old finance worker, told Reuters PSG supporters like her had been warned not to break anything. “I think it’ll go well,” she said.

Mbwebwa was also hopeful for the outcome. “The players are aware that the whole city, we’re all behind them. So I think they’ll give it their all tonight,” she added.

“I’m much more confident than in 2020, when they came up short (losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the final). But this time, I think it’s ours.” Corinne Soler, a PSG supporter of 32 years that came all the way from southern France, said that even if victory eluded the Parisian team, this final would still go down in history. “It’s our second final, and finally, we can celebrate it.

So, even if we lose, we will be with other supporters tonight and it won’t matter,” she said. Share 19h ago 07.34 EDT Thanks Barry. Time for some scene-setting from Munich as the Bavarian capital gears up for tonight’s royal rumble … Share 19h ago 07.31 EDT Handover: Dominic Booth is here to take up the cudgels as we continue our countdown to tonight’s Champions League final.

Share 19h ago 07.29 EDT Liverpool news: In a departure that is likely to be more low key and uncontroversial than that of Trent Alexander-Arnold, the Premier League champions have announced that John Heitinga is leaving his role in Arne Slot’s coaching staff to become head coach of his former club Ajax. The 41-year-old succeeds Francesco Farioli, who masterminded Ajax’s spectacular choke in the final weeks of the Eredivisie season and is now reported on the Rangers shortlist. Heitinga has signed a two-year deal with Ajax, who finished second to PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch top flight after blowing a nine-point lead with just five games to go.

View image in fullscreen John Heitinga is taking over the role of Ajax head coach. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Share