Tactical overview of PSG-Inter Champions League final: Discipline or tempo?

That night, written in capital letters every year on the calendar of European football, has arrived. The Champions League final of the 2024-25 season will be played at Bayern Munich's stadium, Allianz Arena, on the evening of May 31. Before this historic match, let's analyze both teams in all their aspects and examine the tactical basis of the PSG-Inter Champions League final together.

Inter and Paris Saint-Germain, who will face each other in the final, are not only two great clubs; they also represent two different football cultures, two different construction models and two different journeys.

Inter, which has a collective structure with a 3-1-4-2 system that Simone Inzaghi has been gradually establishing for years, will be faced by Luis Enrique's PSG, which has made changes to its squad both at the beginning of the season and during the mid-season transfer period, moving away from the star dependency of previous seasons and towards a more holistic approach.

This fight will not only be about individual quality, but also organization, discipline, patience and strategy. Every step taken on the field, every attacking set to be drawn, every decision to be made will determine the biggest prize of this long season.

Inter collected 81 points in 38 matches in Serie A in the 2024-25 season, with 24 wins, 9 draws and 5 losses.

The blue-black team, who had maintained their hopes of winning the championship until the last match, lost the championship when Napoli defeated Cagliari at home despite defeating Como away. This was the second league title Simone Inzaghi lost to Napoli in the last 3 years. Therefore, Inter will enter the Champions League final under great pressure. This is also Simone Inzaghi's second Champions League final in the last 3 years.

Simone Inzaghi usually fielded his team in a 3-1-4-2 formation. The Italian team, which has a good combination with the trio of Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi and Yan Bisseck in the defensive line, provides both offensive and defensive mobility with the wing-back duo of Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries.

With our national player Hakan Çalhanoğlu guiding the team in the midfield line as a deep playmaker, he quickly breaks the pressure coming from the opposing team and thanks to this role, Inter can easily get out of pressure.

The remaining midfield duo, Nicolo Barella and Henrih Mkhitaryan, have played important roles in both defensive and offensive transitions this season.

When we look at the offensive line, team captain Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram have made important contributions this season. Martinez stood out as both a goal scorer and a link-up player. Marcus Thuram made it difficult, especially against heavy defenders, with his deep runs.

Looking at the match from Inter's perspective, I think the defenders at the back can physically cause trouble for the PSG front three.

In addition, I think that PSG's occasional pressure on the front line will be resolved, especially in the Hakan-Mkhitaryan-Dumfries triangle, and the Lautaro and Thuram duo will be able to move behind the PSG defense and score from there.

I think that what will be disadvantageous for Inter in this match will be the weight of Inter's defense and the average age of the team. Although 8-9 players are the same from the Champions League Final 2 years ago, the average age of the team is over 30.

I think PSG will benefit from this.

Paris Saint-Germain completed the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season as champions, achieving the treble by winning the Coupe de France and Trophee des Champions.

The French team, which left a question mark in everyone's mind with the transfer of its biggest star Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid at the beginning of the year, is one game away from the Champions League trophy they have wanted to win for a long time with this new order established by Luis Enrique.

When we look at it tactically, we see that coach Luis Enrique has continued the 4-3-3 system that he used in the past both with the Spanish national team and his former club Barcelona. They seem to be a team that aims to control the game with ball possession and high pass accuracy and to catch passes with their fast players. They achieved this with a pass accuracy rate of 89.5% this season.

When we look at the goals scored by the wing backs (Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes) in the quarter and semi-final matches and the places where they meet the ball in the attack, we can say that Luis Enrique does not play a passive game, on the contrary, he prefers an active game. The full backs support the players in the midfield not only in the attack but also by moving inwards. For this reason, they often have numerical superiority over the opposing team's midfield.

The French team, which prefers young players in the midfield, makes it difficult for their opponents both in terms of pace and creativity with the trio of Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian.

Unable to get the desired efficiency from Gonçalo Ramos and Kolo Muani in the attack, Enrique played with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele in order to build a more mobile game by not using a center forward in the front three of the 4-3-3 formation. And he got what he wanted in most matches. The person who benefited the most from this formation was Ousmane Dembele. The French player scored 32 goals in 40 matches and became the team's top scorer. He is one of the strongest candidates for the Ballon d'Or to be held towards the end of the year. Dembele is currently one of the players who will cause the most trouble for Inter's relatively heavy defense.

I think that this front three will benefit from the weight of the Inter defence, and since the midfield line is faster and more rapid than the Inter midfield, PSG will have more of the ball and they will score by making quick attacks and running behind the Inter defence.

When we look at PSG's disadvantages, the first thing that catches our eye is the youth of the squad. Inter is playing its second final in 3 years. In addition, Luis Enrique's frequent sending of full-backs forward or adding them to the midfield can create large gaps in the back.

So, who will win the PSG-Inter Champions League final?

I think both teams will score in the final and the final will go to overtime.

In the end, I predict that Luis Enrique's team, PSG, will win the cup.