PSG reach first Champions League final with win over Leipzig

Thursday, 20 August 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Soccer Football - Champions League - Semi Final - RB Leipzig v Paris St Germain - Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal - August 18, 2020 Paris St Germain's Marquinhos scores their first goal, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) David Ramos/Pool via REUTERS

LISBON (Reuters): Paris St Germain reached their first ever Champions League final with a convincing 3-0 win over RB Leipzig on Tuesday, finally delivering the reward of the biggest game in European football for their Qatari backers.

Goals from Marquinhos and Angel Di Maria put PSG 2-0 up at the interval and Juan Bernat added the third in the 56th minute for what was a comfortable victory at the Estadio da Luz.

The French club, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their founding in 1970, will meet the winner of Wednesday’s other semi between Bayern Munich and Olympique Lyonnais after ending what some felt was a mental block in the knockout stages. PSG have gone out in the last 16 for the past three years, but they proved a step too far for Leipzig, who were playing in the regional leagues just 11 years ago.

The Germans, financed by the Red Bull energy drink company, have outperformed all expectations by reaching the last four, knocking out Tottenham Hotspur and Atletico Madrid en route.

The French club have played 110 games in the competition – the most played by a side before reaching their first final, overtaking Arsenal’s record of 90 between 1971-2006.

PSG’s only other appearances in the final of a European competition came with their UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1996 and their runners-up spot in the following season.

Olympique Marseille are the only French team to win the European Cup, triumphing over AC Milan in 1993.