MX23RW : Monday, October 19 05:46:27| >> :120:25368:25368:
Aug 23, 2020 at 8pm UK at Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica
PSGParis Saint-Germain
0-1
BayernBayern Munich

Paredes (52'), Neymar (81'), Silva (84'), Kurzawa (86')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Coman (59')
Davies (28'), Gnabry (52'), Sule (56'), Muller (90+4')

Champions League final 2020: PSG's history in the European Cup/Champions League

Ahead of Sunday's Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at PSG's history in the competition.

Two of the most exciting attacking teams in world football face off in a mouth-watering Champions League final on Sunday as Paris Saint-Germain take on Bayern Munich at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.

PSG have finally made it to the biggest match in club football as they look to get the hands on the trophy their owners really want, having overcome Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta BC and RB Leipzig in the knockout rounds en route to the final.

The Champions League has been the holy grail for the French outfit since they were taken over, and Sunday will give them the opportunity to end what has so far been a tale of high-profile failures.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at PSG's history in the European Cup/Champions League.



Paris Saint-Germain celebrate scoring against RB Leipzig in the Champions League on August 18, 2020© Reuters

PSG may be one of Europe's heavyweights now, but they are still relative novices on the biggest European stage compared with Sunday's opponents Bayern Munich.

The current campaign is just their 13th season in the European Cup/Champions League, and they were not regular competitors at this level until 2012-13.

Since then, domestic silverware has flown freely - they have won 25 of the 31 domestic trophies available to them in the last seven years - but their Champions League story has been one of despair on the whole.

Four years in a row they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage - twice by Barcelona and once each by Chelsea and Manchester City - as they struggled to make the step up to Europe's true elite.

Worse was to come, though, with the 2016-17 campaign seeing them fail to even reach the quarter-finals as they crashed out of the competition in devastating fashion.

PSG players look dejected after losing to Barcelona in the 2016-17 Champions League© Reuters

Barcelona were again their tormentors, although Unai Emery's side looked to be cruising into the last eight when they won 4-0 at the Parc des Princes in the first leg - a lead no team had ever surrendered in Champions League history.

What followed was an almighty collapse, though, as Barcelona pulled off the biggest comeback ever seen in the competition and PSG somehow contrived to blow their advantage in the most dramatic fashion.

Barca still needed three goals heading into the 88th minute of the return leg at Camp Nou, but a brace from Neymar was then followed by a 96th-minute strike from Sergi Roberto to seal a truly remarkable 6-1 win on the night for Bayern and a 6-5 win on aggregate.

PSG's response was to go out and sign both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, but even the two most expensive players in football history have not been able to improve their Champions League fortunes until this season.

Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar and Kylian Mbappe celebrate overcoming Atalanta BC in the Champions League on August 12, 2020© Reuters

Le Parisiens were beaten by Real Madrid in the last 16 the following year and then squandered another last-16 advantage against Manchester United last season, winning the first leg 2-0 at Old Trafford but then losing 3-1 at home to go out on away goals.

Indeed, despite a decade of extravagant spending, prior to this season PSG's previous best performance in this competition came in 1994-95 when they made it to the semi-finals before crashing out at the hands of AC Milan.

The only previous occasion PSG had featured in Europe's premier club competition before that season was in 1986-87, when they were swiftly dumped out in the first round.

The French outfit also took part in 1997-98, 2000-01 and 2004-05, but were eliminated in the group stages on each occasion.

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Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring for Bayern Munich on June 20, 2020
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rhs 2.0
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1RB Leipzig4310102810
2Bayern MunichBayern430117899
3Borussia DortmundDortmund43018269
4Eintracht FrankfurtFrankfurt42207438
5Stuttgart42119547
6Augsburg42115327
7Werder Bremen42116607
8Hoffenheim42028626
9Bayer LeverkusenB. Leverkusen41303216
10Union BerlinUnion Berlin41217525
11Borussia MonchengladbachBorussia M'bach412156-15
12Freiburg412158-35
13Wolfsburg40402204
14Arminia Bielefeld411236-34
15Hertha Berlin4103810-23
16FC Koln401348-41
17Schalke 04Schalke4013216-141
18Mainz 054004212-100

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