Football: Bayern Munich upstage French upstart Paris Saint-Germain to win Champions League

In a stadium without fans, in a tournament without frills, it was Bayern Munich who attained that elusive state of completion.

Goalscorer Kingsley Coman raises the trophy as Bayern Munich players celebrate

In a stadium without fans, in a tournament without frills, in a season seemingly without end, it was Bayern Munich who attained that elusive state of completion.

Their sixth European Champions League title was achieved in unprecedented circumstances, but it was a no less merited triumph for a team who have been the best in Europe since Hansi Flick replaced Niko Kovac in November.

Though this final was settled by a single goal, Bayern created a multitude of chances and ended this strange tournament having scored 12 goals from three games with effervescent attacking football in stark contrast to the tedium of their hotel-room confinement and the airlessness of the hermetic surroundings. When life gives you bubbles, make champagne.

The game was settled by a goal from Kingsley Coman, a player who began his career at Paris Saint-Germain. For the French upstarts, it was the ultimate irony. They have spent $1.2bn assembling a squad of superstars in an attempt to realise the elusive dream of conquering a continent. In the end, their fantasy was dispelled by a player who walked through the doors of their academy as an eight-year-old. Bayern are not exactly impecunious, but their starting XI here cost only $180m, less than half a Neymar. They are the rare superclub run with a razor’s edge.

This was a victory for a team who have successfully allied compression with expression. In their regimented compactness, Bayern sometimes resemble a marching band or a group of synchronised swimmers rather than a football team, while their axis of Flick, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller are masters of the constricted rhythms of knockout tournament football.

In their team selection, Thomas Tuchel chose to stick, while Flick twisted. The Paris Saint-Germain manager retained Leandro Paredes in midfield, alongside Marquinhos and Ander Herrera, resisting the temptation to start the fit-again Marco Verratti. Flick decided to add an extra stick of dynamite to his explosive front four, replacing Ivan Perisic with Coman on the left wing. Otherwise, Bayern were unchanged, with Joshua Kimmich remaining at right back, and the midfield pivot of Leon Goretzka and Thiago Alcantara, a nightclub bouncer and a jazz pianist, preserved.

There were some early sightings of Bayern’s vaunted high press, including one incident where Herrera was pincered inside his own third and only a miscue between Coman and Muller stopped Bayern creating a clear chance.

At the other end, a lovely diagonal pass from Paredes set up an attack that ended with Kylian Mbappe firing a shot into Goretzka’s shins. Kimmich was briefly caught out of position by another excellent ball from Paredes, but Mbappe hesitated. However, his movement was generating panic in the channel between Kimmich and Jerome Boateng, and it was from this avenue that PSG created the first major chance. The Frenchman slipped a through-ball to Neymar, whose angled shot was well saved by Neuer.

As the game started to open up, Robert Lewandowski was allowed to turn by Juan Bernat and hooked a scruffy shot that clanged off the post. PSG countered at speed and after a neat segue, Angel Di Maria blazed over. At the back, Bayern’s problems mounted: Boateng had to be replaced by Niklas Sule, and Alphonso Davies, the youngest player on the pitch, picked up a booking.

Lewandowski then worked Keylor Navas with a close-range header. But Bayern were not building from the back as easily as normal, missing Boateng’s line-breaking ability and discomfited by Mbappe and Neymar snapping at their heels. When David Alaba rolled a pass across his own box straight to Mbappe, they were in severe peril, but the forward shot straight at Neuer.

Tuchel, who has spent the entire mini-tournament perched atop an icebox like an uncool dad supervising an extravagant teenager’s house party, winced as if someone had just poured punch into his best decanter. Bayern surged forward and should have had a penalty when Thilo Kehrer dragged back Coman by the shoulder.

Serge Gnabry, hitherto the quietest attacker on the pitch, was booked, not so much for his foul on Neymar as for the Brazilian’s reaction, which was that of a jobbing actor trying to turn a cameo in Casualty into a Bafta nomination.

But the opening exchanges of the second half were otherwise cagey, with Bayern initially struggling to play through PSG’s organised mid block.

Just before the hour mark, though, they broke through. Bayern moved the ball quickly and with purpose, with Thiago setting Kimmich free deep in the PSG half with a lovely pass. The ball came back to Kimmich on the edge of the box, and he curled in an exquisite cross over the head of Kehrer. Lurking behind him was Coman. The team who let him go had lost him again, and as he moved from Kehrer’s peripheral vision to the centre of the world’s gaze, it was already too late. With a precise header, he scored the opening goal.

As PSG reeled, there were two more clear chances for Bayern. First, Coman fizzed in a dangerous cross, which was brilliantly defended by Kimpembe under the close attentions of Lewandowski. Then, from Muller’s floated ball, Coman arrived at the back post again, sending the ball across the face of goal with a crisp volley and forcing Thiago Silva into an urgent clearance.

PSG still had chances to equalise. Di Maria was allowed to escape by Davies and slid a measured pass to Marquinhos, who could not evade the feet of Neuer. Then there was a moment of intrigue: Mbappe, jackknifing his way into the penalty area, went down under a clumsy heel-clip from Kimmich. Daniele Orsato didn’t intervene, and nor did the VAR. In the end, PSG were left to mourn the end of their dream, as Bayern reigned again.

The Times