Champions League final: 3 storylines to follow on Sunday

The Champions League final between Bayern Munich and PSG will be played Sunday in Lisbon. Here are three storylines to watch for.

The European soccer season will officially come to an end this Sunday, nearly three months later than usual, when Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain battle it out in Lisbon with the Champions League on the line.

While the Bavarian giants are favored to win the trophy for a sixth time, PSG are attempting to win it for the very first after nearly a decade of their Qatari owners, an investment group led by the country’s ruler Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, purchased the French club in 2011 and pumped lots of cash into making the club a contender.

Bayern reached the championship match following Wednesday’s 3-0 win against Lyon. PSG blanked German side RB Leipzig 3-0 the previous day.

The final comes after the knockout stage, starting with the quarterfinals, were moved to Lisbon and played in a single-game elimination format in order to fit the tournament in August following the pandemic pause of five months ago.

In what has been an unusual club season because of the coronavirus, the big game at Estadio da Luz will feature no fans inside the stadium, although an estimated 180 million people in over 200 countries are expected to watch on TV in what has become one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Just four days to go before kickoff, here are three storylines to keep an eye on.

Aiming to win the treble

Both Bayern and PSG have dominated their domestic leagues in recent years. Bayern has won eight consecutive Bundesliga titles; PSG has captured three straight Ligue 1 crowns.

This season was no different: Bayern won the league-cup double as did PSG, in a season that was cut short after COVID-19 spread across Europe starting in February. The Champions League will complete the treble for either club, cementing either Bayern or PSG as among one of the best in European club history like the Manchester United side from 1999.

Expect plenty of goals

The Champions League has averaged 3.26 goals this season, the most since the 1969-70 season. It’s true that championship matches in soccer are often dominated by cautious play that results in drab, low-scoring affairs. Bayern features striker Robert Lewandowski, currently the tournament top scorer with 15 goals. PSG, meanwhile, are led by Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi, both with five goals.

Last year’s final, won by Liverpool 2-0 against Tottenham, was a lackluster affair. Most finals tend to be, but this year’s could be different given how offensive-minded both Bayern and PSG have been throughout the season.

German coaching supremacy

The semifinals were dominated by the appearance of three German-born managers. As a result, the final will pit Bayern boss Hansi Flick will face PSG’s Thomas Tuchel. The Flick-Tuchel battle comes a year after German-born Jurgen Klopp coached Liverpool to the continental championship.

Indeed, Teutonic trainers have become all the rage this season when it comes to coaching. Whichever team wins it all, it will have been another German who guided them to victory.