UCL final battles GFX 16:9

The biggest game of the European season is all set for Munich on Saturday - but where will the European Cup be won and lost?

Here we are. After 188 matches, 613 goals, 33 red cards, one pleasantly chaotic league phase and two legs of the greatest knockout tie in competition history, the Champions League final is upon us. Paris Saint-Germain and Inter have made their way to Munich for Saturday's mouth-watering showpiece as they prepare to bring the curtain down on another breath-taking European campaign.

PSG come into this game knowing that they have never had a better of chance of finally winning the Champions League. After a slow start to the post-Kylian Mbappe era, Luis Enrique's side found their groove around the turn of the year and never looked back. The Ligue 1 champions got a real taste for Premier League blood in particular, as they beat Manchester City to stay alive in the league phase before knocking out Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal in successive rounds to reach the final.

Inter, meanwhile, have qualified for their second final in three seasons, and after being gallant losers against Man City in 2023, Simone Inzaghi's side know they cannot let another of these opportunities slip by them. They certainly didn't have an easy route, either, as they knocked out German champions Bayern Munich and Spanish title-winners Barcelona along the way, and while they may have collapsed in the battle to win Serie A, they have shown themselves to be one of the consistently best teams on the continent under Inzaghi's tutelage.

It's all set up to be an epic encounter at the Allianz Arena - but where will the game be won and lost? GOAL has broken down the key battles that will likely decide the destination of the 2025 European Cup...

Gigi Donnarumma vs Yann Sommer

The Champions League final can do funny things to goalkeepers - just ask Loris Karius - but there is also scope for the men between the sticks to be difference-makers in a positive sense, a la Thibaut Courtois in 2022. On Saturday, two of the best shot-stoppers in Europe will face off, with both coming into this game in superb form when it comes to their European campaigns.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has been the outstanding 'keeper in this season's knockout stages, and despite all their attacking talent, it's worth considering whether PSG would have made it this far without the Italy international. Donnarumma was the penalty shootout hero at Anfield in the last 16 before he pulled off a couple of spectacular saves at Villa Park in the quarter-finals as the Parisiens threatened to throw away a 5-1 aggregate lead in the second leg. He saved his best for the semis, however, as he produced at least four outstanding stops to keep Arsenal at bay, and was only beaten by Bukayo Saka once the tie was all-but over.

Yann Sommer, meanwhile, doesn't garner quite as much attention outside of Italy, but since arriving at Inter in the summer of 2023, he has unquestionably been the best goalkeeper in Serie A. During this Champions League run, he kept seven clean sheets and conceded just one goal during his eight league-phase games, before producing an epic performance in the second leg of the Barcelona semi-final to help send the Nerazzurri to Munich. His flying stop to tip Lamine Yamal's curling effort over the bar in extra-time was arguably as good, if not better than any of Donnarumma's efforts at the same stage of the competition.

If these two are at their best in Germany, it will take something truly special to beat them. It certainly wouldn't come as a surprise if either Donnarumma or Sommer walks away with the Player of the Match award.

Nuno Mendes vs Denzel Dumfries

Given some of the wide players involved in this final, it would not be a shock if the match is decided on the flanks in some fashion. Certainly, Inter will be looking to flying wing-back Denzel Dumfries to repeat his semi-final heroics after producing one of the all-time individual efforts across two legs in European history.

The Netherlands international scored twice against Barcelona in Catalunya while he also provided three assists over the course of the two games, including the cross for Francesco Acerbi's dramatic stoppage-time equaliser at San Siro. That display of attacking intent was trademark Dumfries, who, with 11 goals in all competitions, is in the midst of the best goal-scoring campaign of his career.

Inzaghi's 3-5-2 formation means Dumfries will be Inter's main outlet down the right-hand side, but to produce a match-winning contribution he will have to do what some of Europe's best wingers have failed to do so far in this competition and get the better of Nuno Mendes. The Portuguese has grown into one of world football's most complete left-backs in recent times, with his displays in silencing Mohamed Salah over two legs against Liverpool the highlight of his season to date.

He also kept Saka relatively quiet in the semi-finals, while his two goals against Villa showcased that Mendes hasn't lost any of the attacking thrust that first put him on fans' radars when he was breaking through at Sporting CP. Who wins this one is anyone's guess right now.

Achraf Hakimi vs Federico Dimarco

On the other flank, meanwhile, PSG possess the one player in their team who is unquestionably the best player in his position anywhere on the planet. Achraf Hakimi is the right-back against whom all others should be compared having gone from being unwanted by Real Madrid to a player who probably should get spoken about when it comes to Ballon d'Or conversations.

The Morocco international will come up against one of his former sides on Saturday, and while he was used as more of an attacking force under Antonio Conte during his season at Inter, Hakimi has rounded out his game since his arrival at Parc des Princes to become the complete package. That is not to say he doesn't still contribute in the final third, with his strikes against both Villa and Arsenal forming part of the 20-plus combined goal and assists he has contributed in 2024-25.

When Hakimi does get forward in the final, it will likely be down to Inter wing-back Federico Dimarco to stop him. Poor Dimarco was turned inside and out at times by Lamine Yamal in the semi-finals, but it's becoming increasingly clear that stopping the 17-year-old is an impossibility for even the best left-backs, and so that shouldn't be held against the Italian. He is generally one of the most dependable players in Inzaghi's line up, and he will need all his experience and nous to keep track of Hakimi, who will likely dovetail with either Desire Doue or Bradley Barcola, with one going inside while the other hugs the touchline. Alessandro Bastoni will also, then, need to be on his toes to help his international team-mate out.

Joao Neves vs Nicolo Barella

While still top players in their own right, there is no doubt that Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are no longer on the same level as Nicolo Barella in the Inter midfield. Barella is the player who makes Inter tick with his inch-perfect passing, and a match-defining display in the Champions League final might be what he needs to earn the full respect of fans outside of Italy.

Certainly Barella is capable of such a performance, though he will not find it easy up against PSG's outstanding trio. Vitinha is one of the few players in Europe who can match the Inter star when it comes to picking out team-mates and controlling the tempo of games while Fabian Ruiz has got back to his best over the past 12 months after a tough transition period following his move from Napoli.

But when Barella gets on the ball, it is likely Joao Neves who will be nipping at his heels to try and get the ball back into PSG's possession. One of the best signings of the season anywhere in Europe, Neves has shown exactly why the French side were willing to pay €70 million (£60m/$76m) to get him out of Benfica and across to Parc des Princes. The 20-year-old is able to combine the combativeness required of all modern No.6s with outstanding ball skills, while he has chipped in with his fair share of goals and assists over the course of the campaign too. If he can shut down Barella, a lot of Inter's creativity will disappear with him.

Marquinhos vs Lautaro Martinez

For all their excellent players across the pitch, Inter know that if they are to score the goals to beat PSG, Lautaro Martinez will need to be at the top of his game. After some indifferent post-pandemic seasons, Lautaro has found his best form over the past couple of campaigns while also showing a propensity to step up on the grandest of stages, as highlighted by him scoring the winning goal in last summer's Copa America final for Argentina.

Lautaro has saved his best form for the Champions League since the turn of the year, having scored eight goals in seven European appearances in 2025. The only match he failed to find the net in was the first leg against Barcelona when he was forced off at half-time with a hamstring injury, but even then he was able to recover in time to open the scoring against the Blaugrana in the return fixture six days later.

As part of a front two alongside Marcus Thuram, Lautaro tends to play off the left-hand side, meaning he is likely to be faced with another South American veteran in Marquinhos on Saturday. The PSG captain remains one of the most dependable centre-backs around, and while summer signing Willian Pacho has shown signs of being able to step up and become the leader of the PSG backline in the coming years, Marquinhos remains the beating heart of Luis Enrique's side for the time being.

As the one man in this PSG line up to play through the whole Neymar-Kylian Mbappe-Lionel Messi era and live to tell the tale, few would be more deserving of lifting the club's first-ever European cup than Marquinhos. To do so, though, he will have to shutdown a player in Lautaro who has made scoring in this competition a habit.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia vs Benjamin Pavard

Heading into this final, there are two real question marks when it comes to the respective line ups. For PSG, Luis Enrique must choose between Barcola and Doue on the right wing, though he can't really go wrong given how brilliant both youngsters have been over the course of the campaign. For Inter, though, who joins Acerbi and Bastoni in defence could truly decide which way this final goes.

Benjamin Pavard has been out with an ankle injury since late-April, and he was forced to sit out the semi-final against Barcelona as a result. Yann Bisseck stepped up in Pavard's absence, and while he got himself on the end of some set-pieces at either end, the Germany international was routinely targeted by Hansi Flick's forward line as the obvious weak link in Inter's back three.

It has come as a massive boost for Inzaghi, then, that all signs point to Pavard being fit and available to make his return back at the ground he used to call home when he represented Bayern. And he if he does start as expected, he will be thrown right into the firing line up against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Dumfries' front-foot style means that Inter's right-sided centre-back is expected to go toe-to-toe up against the opposition's left winger, and there are few more difficult to stop when in full flow than Kvaratskhelia.

The former Napoli favourite only moved to PSG in January, but his introduction down the left has provided Luis Enrique's attack with the balance it needed, especially since Ousmane Dembele is now playing as a central striker. Kvaratskhelia hasn't perhaps scored the number of goals that would be expected of him since moving to France - just six in 24 appearances - but the way he is able to attract defenders with his quick feet and change of pace creates room for others to thrive in.

It is imperative for Inter, then, that Pavard show no signs of rust as he tries to limit 'Kvaradona's' influence.