PSG vs Inter Milan Matchday Stats Preview

PSG vs Inter Milan Matchday Stats Preview 

This is the first ever competitive meeting between Inter and Paris SG. It’s also the second European Cup/UEFA Champions League final between an Italian and a French side, after Marseille beat Milan 1-0 in 1993 – the only time a French side has ever won the trophy. That final was also held in Munich.

This is Inter’s seventh appearance in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League final, winning the trophy three times (1964, 1965 and 2010). They did lose their last final match, going down 1-0 against Manchester City in 2023.

This is Paris SG’s second ever appearance in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League final, losing 1-0 against Bayern Munich in 2019-20 previously. They remain the last French side to win a major European trophy – the 1995-96 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

French clubs have only won two of their 15 major European finals: one out of seven in European Cup/UEFA Champions League, one out of three in UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and none in five attempts in UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League.

This will be the fifth European Cup/UEFA Champions League final to be held in Munich. The victors in each of the previous four were winning the trophy for the very first time, a run Paris SG will seek to continue (Nottingham Forest in 1979, Marseille in 1993, Borussia Dortmund in 1997, Chelsea in 2012).

Internazionale have scored 26 UEFA Champions League goals this season; their joint most ever in a major European season, also scoring 26 in 2002-03. They’ve scored two or more goals in all six knockout games and could be the third side to score 2+ goals in every knockout game including the final in a season, along with Real Madrid in 1959-60 (7 games) and Milan in 1993-94 (2 games).

This season has seen Paris SG both win their most games (10) and score their most goals (33) in a single major European campaign. They’ve also registered their most shots per game (18.6) in a UEFA Champions League season on record since 2003-04.

Internazionale have trailed for just 1.2% of their UEFA Champions League matches this season, falling behind in three games but never for more than 370 seconds in any of them – 285 seconds against Bayer Leverkusen in December, 370 against Bayern Munich in April and 343 against Barcelona in May. They’ve also spent the highest percentage of their time winning (50.8%).

Only Atlético Madrid (43.5%) have handed a higher share of minutes to players aged 30+ in the UEFA Champions League this season than Internazionale (43.3%), whose 6,151 minutes by players aged 30+ is the most by a team since Juventus in 2016-17 (6,186). All of the 1,350 minutes Paris SG have given to players aged 30 or over has been by just one player, Marquinhos.

Paris SG have currently played the fourth-most games (167) without ever winning the European Cup/UEFA Champions League since it began in 1955, behind Arsenal (211), Dynamo Kyiv (185) and Atlético Madrid (176). A win in this game would see them have the most games before winning their first trophy, with Man City the current most on 116 before they won their 117th game in the final against Inter in 2023.

Internazionale manager Simone Inzaghi lost the 2023 UEFA Champions League final and is looking to avoid becoming the ninth manager to lose two or more finals. The only two managers to lose their first final but win their second are Fabio Capello (lost 1993, won 1994) and Thomas Tuchel (lost 2020, won 2021).

Paris SG manager Luis Enrique – who won the UEFA Champions League in 2015 with Barcelona – is looking to become the sixth manager to win the trophy with two different clubs, along with Carlo Ancelotti (Milan, Real Madrid), Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich), Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid, Bayern Munich), José Mourinho (Porto and Inter) and Pep Guardiola (Barcelona and Man City).

João Neves has applied the most high-intensity pressures to opponents in this season’s UEFA Champions League (824), while he’s also made 57 tackles for Paris SG. On record since 2006-07, the only players to make more in a season are Gennaro Gattuso (64 in 2006-07, 59 in 2007-08) and Javier Mascherano (70 in 2007-08).

Paris SG midfielder Vitinha has completed the most passes under high-intensity pressure from opponents (665) in this season’s UEFA Champions League. He’s also completed the most passes overall (1,222), with only Xavi in 2012-13 (1,299) and 2010-11 (1,244) ever completing more in a season on record since 2003-04.

Internazionale’s Francesco Acerbi – who scored their crucial late equaliser in the semi-final against Barcelona – could be the fourth oldest outfield player to start a UEFA Champions League final (37 years, 110 days), behind Paolo Maldini for Milan in 2007 (38 years, 331 days), Lothar Matthäus for Bayern Munich in 1999 (38 years, 66 days) and Ryan Giggs for Man Utd in 2011 (37 years, 180 days).

Ousmane Dembélé has been directly involved in 12 UEFA Champions League goals this season (8 goals, 4 assists); the most ever by a Paris SG player in one campaign, while only Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2013-14 (10) has scored more.

Internazionale’s Lautaro Martínez has scored in the last 16, quarter-final and semi-final of this season’s UEFA Champions League. Only five players have scored in those stages plus the final in one season – Frank Lampard in 2007-08, Diego Milito in 2009-10, Lionel Messi in 2010-11, Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013-14 and Sadio Mané in 2017-18. He’s also aiming to become the first Inter player with 10 goals in a major European season (currently nine).

In this season’s UEFA Champions League, the most line-breaking passes from one player to another while breaking a defensive line have been from Paris SG’s Ousmane Dembélé to Achraf Hakimi (13); six more than any other duo. Dembélé has created 35 chances this season, the most by a French player since Jerome Rothen in 2003-04 (45), while Hakimi’s 34 chances created is the most by an African player on record (since 2003-04).

Only two players have completed more passes in this season’s UEFA Champions League than PSG captain Marquinhos (1,051), who featured in the 2020 final defeat to Bayern Munich. The final could be his 107th appearance in the competition, with only Gianluigi Buffon and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (124 each) playing more games in Champions League history without winning the trophy.

Based on the quality of shots on target faced (using xG), Internazionale’s Yann Sommer has prevented more goals than any other goalkeeper in the UEFA Champions League this season (+5.9 – 10 goals conceded from 15.9 xG on target faced, excluding own goals).