Five Facts: Must know Champions League final stats for PSG vs Bayern
It has taken more than 12 months to get to this point but we finally have a Champions League final for the 2019/20 campaign. Hosted in Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain will face Bayern Munich to win the competition and set up a Super Cup showdown with Friday's Europa League winners Sevilla.
In the build up to Sunday night's showpiece event, we run through five must-know match facts:
History in sight for Tuchel or Flick
One of Thomas Tuchel or Hansi Flick are guaranteed to enter the history books on Sunday night, with both managers chasing a European treble. Only five managers in the Champions League-era have completed said treble, with Luis Enrique of Barcelona in 2015 the last to manage the feat. Sir Alex Ferguson was the first in 1999 with Manchester United, while Pep Guardiola (Barcelona 2009), Jose Mourinho (Inter 2010) and Jupp Heynckes (Bayern 2013) have also done so. PSG and Bayern both won their respective league campaigns and also picked up a domestic cup trophy along the way, with just the Champions League missing. It would be an incredble acheivement for both managers, perhaps more so for Flick, who only took over as Bayern boss midway through the season.
Neymar enjoys playing Bayern
Neymar's shock decision to leave Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain back in 2017 was widely criticised. It was seen as a move completely fuelled by money but it was actually the Brazilian stepping out of Lionel Messi's shadow to try and cement his legacy as one of the best ever, by leading PSG to a place they'd never been before. He missed the end of his first two seasons at PSG through injury and it seemed like he'd made a huge mistake. Now, however, he is fully fit and only Bayern stand in his way of achieving his objective. Neymar will not be concerned with Bayern being favourites, as the 28-year-old has a stellar record against the German outfit. In fact, Neymar has scored four goals in four previously encounters with Bayern, against only Celtic and PSG themselves has the winger netted more times in the Champions League in his career (seven each). A goal in Sunday's final would also see Neymar become just the third player after Cristiano Ronaldo and Mario Mandzukic to score in multiple Champions League finals with more than one club.
Lewandowski chasing Ronaldo's record
This season has been a memorable one for Robert Lewandowski and the Bayern Munich striker will hope to finish it with a bang. Lewandowski has scored 55 times so far in 2019/20 in all competitions making it by far and away the best season in his career. Having previously only reached double figures for goals in one Champions League campaign out of eight, the 32-year-old remarkably has 15 in 9 games this term, scoring in each appearance. Heading into Sunday's final he is just two goals short of Cristiano Ronaldo's record-haul of 17 in 2013/14. In order to surpass the now-Juventus striker, Lewandowski will need to become the first player to score a hat-trick in a Champions League final and doing so would also tie the Poland international with Raul on 71 goals as the competition's third top scorer of all-time.
What a PSG win would mean
This has been a long time coming for Paris Saint-Germain, who have spent more than £1bn in the last nine years in a desperate attempt to lift the Champions League for the first time in their history. The French outfit are the 41st different club to reach the European Cup final and the second in successive seasons after Tottenham in 2019. Tuchel's side are bidding to become the 23rd team to life the trophy and first new winner since Chelsea defeated Bayern on penalties in 2012. Only one French side has previously won Europe's elite competition, with that coming back in 1993 when Marseille beat AC Milan. French sides have made the final on six other occasions, only to fall at the final hurdle. Can PSG go one better?
What a Bayern win would mean
Bayern Munich have been a revelation since Hansi Flick took charge in November and have been uttely rampant en route to their first European final since winning the competition in 2013. Victory over PSG would see the German giants move into joint-third for the most final victories (6), with only Real Madrid (13) and AC Milan (seven) winning more. A win in normal time would also see Bayern become the first side in UEFA Champions League history to have a 100 per cent win ratio in the competition. Just winning the trophy would see Bayern become the first side to win the competition without losing a single game since Manchester United in 2007/08. They are also only one goal shy of 500 in the Champions League - only Madrid (567) and Barcelona (517) have netted more.
