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Paris Saint-Germain's road to the Champions League final

After ending a 23-year wait to reach their next European final, Sports Mole takes a look at Paris Saint-Germain's route through to the Champions League final.

Despite their hugely successful record on the domestic scene, Paris Saint-Germain's only major success on the continent is through the Cup Winner's Cup.

However, nine years on from being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments, the French giants have moved to the brink of winning the Champions League for the first time.

Despite having taken far longer than expected to earn a place in the final of the competition, club officials will relish the chance to go one step further at a time when they are battling to keep hold of their star men.

Ahead of the showdown with Bayern, Sports Mole takes a look at how PSG have progressed through to Sunday's final in Lisbon.


Group stages

Paris Saint-Germain's Angel Di Maria scores against Real Madrid in the Champions League on September 18, 2019© Reuters

After being placed into a group alongside Real Madrid, Thomas Tuchel would have recognised that his side could ill-afford a slow start to the competition if they wanted to progress in top spot.

Being given a home encounter with Los Blancos proved to be ideal for PSG, whose 3-0 victory over the Spanish giants laid the foundations for their passage through to the last 16.

That said, it was far from routine, with PSG only prevailing by 1-0 scorelines in two of their four fixtures against Galatasaray and Club Brugge.

Effectively needing to avoid a heavy defeat at the Bernabeu on matchday five to secure first place, PSG netted two late goals to claim a dramatic 2-2 draw.


Last 16: Borussia Dortmund (3-2 on aggregate)

Regardless of topping Group A, PSG were destined to face tough opposition in the last 16, and that came in the form of Borussia Dortmund.

With the German side having edged out Inter Milan before Christmas, this was regarded as a genuine 50-50 tie, something which became evident as Dortmund edged their home fixture by a 2-1 scoreline.

However, faced with question marks over their mentality in the big games, PSG responded with one of their best performances of the season, claiming a 2-0 success at Parc des Princes courtesy of goals from Neymar and Juan Bernat.


Quarter-finals: PSG 2-1 Atalanta BC

Paris Saint-Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scores against Atalanta BC in the Champions League on August 12, 2020© Reuters

With the competition switching to one-off ties due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was widely perceived that the change in rules would only benefit Atalanta BC ahead of the last-eight meeting in Portugal.

As the Italian club held a 1-0 advantage heading into the final minutes of an absorbing contest, that theory appeared destined to come to fruition, leaving PSG to again contemplate the what ifs of another failed campaign.

Tuchel's side had other ideas, however, as Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting found the back of the net in the 90th and 93rd minute respectively to earn their team the most dramatic of victories.


Semi-finals: RB Leipzig 0-3 PSG

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

While PSG came from behind to claim important results against Real, Dortmund and Atalanta, they were not required to go to such lengths against RB Leipzig in Tuesday's semi-final.

PSG were the dominant side from the off, establishing a 2-0 lead through efforts from Marquinhos and Angel Di Maria while also squandering countless other chances.

Although Neymar and Kylian Mbappe posed a constant threat, their third goal early in the second half came from Bernat, putting the game beyond the reach of opponents who were fancied to build on their previous triumph over Atletico Madrid.

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Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva pictured in September 2019
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CBayer LeverkusenB. Leverkusen31256077225581
2Bayern MunichBayern31223689385169
3Stuttgart31204770383264
4RB Leipzig32196774363863
5Borussia DortmundDortmund31169659392057
6Eintracht FrankfurtFrankfurt31111284742545
7Hoffenheim32117145664-840
8Freiburg31117134355-1240
9Augsburg31109124852-439
10Heidenheim31910124452-837
11Werder Bremen31107144150-937
12Wolfsburg3197153751-1434
13Borussia MonchengladbachBorussia M'bach31711135360-732
14Union BerlinUnion Berlin3186172650-2430
15VfL BochumVfL Bochum31612133762-2530
16Mainz 05Mainz31513133249-1728
17FC Koln31411162454-3023
RSV Darmstadt 98Darmstadt3138203073-4317


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