“We’re part of PSG’s history” – Portuguese quartet Vitinha, Neves, Mendes and Ramos celebrate as Paris Saint-Germain conquer Europe | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain are European champions for the first time, and there was a strong Portuguese contribution to the French outfit’s landmark success.

PSG hammered Internazionale 5-0 in arguably the most one-sided final in the tournament’s history in Munich on Saturday evening. As expected, Portugal’s contingent in the PSG side earned plenty of plaudits for their role in the victory.

Goals from Achraf Hakimi and Desire Doué gave the Ligue 1 side a commanding 2-0 lead inside the first twenty minutes, reflection of a dominant start during which Inter could not cope with the intensity of their opponents. Doué added the crucial third just after the hour mark, before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and youngster Senny Mayulu struck to provide a scoreline as emphatic as the disparity between the sides.

PSG started with Portuguese trio Nuno Mendes, João Neves and Vitinha, while Gonçalo Ramos emerged late on to get a taste of the glory. Vitinha was particularly impressive, most notably for the third goal in which he orchestrated a move which was finished off by Doué, who became the youngest player to score twice in a European final – beating the record set by Eusébio in Benfica’s 5-3 win over Real Madrid in 1962 in Amsterdam.

“The result is not by magic” – Vitinha

Speaking to TNT on the pitch after the trophy ceremony, former Porto man Vitinha said: “It means everything. To the fans, they were the main reason we wanted to win this trophy, but we wanted to win it for a lot of reasons. It’s our dream. It’s everyone’s dream; it’s my dream. And I’m glad we made it – it’s incredible.

“It says a lot about his group of players. It’s a very good team. This result is not by magic. We are a very good team and we are very happy we did it like this. Now we’re going to celebrate.”

“It’s a dream” - Ramos

Gonçalo Ramos spoke to UEFA flash after the game, adding: “It’s a dream, it doesn’t even seem real. We’re trying to figure out how to celebrate a moment like this. It’s fantastic and we’re going to make the most of it. We’re part of the club’s history, but it’s just the beginning. We want to give our fans lots of joy. The result is a reflection of our work, our season, the great work we did today. It’s a reflection of our unity and quality. We’re a great team.”

Vitinha, Mendes named in Team of the Year, Portuguese shine in statistics

Inevitably, the UEFA Champions League Team of the Season was dominated by PSG players. Nuno Mendes and Vitinha both took their places in the XI, while Vitinha unsurprisingly led the stats for most passes made by any player in the competition this year with 1308 – far exceeding second-place Joshua Kimmich of Bayern Munich on 1169.

João Neves led the table for distance covered with 184.3 kilometres, followed by Vitinha in second on 180.2. Neves also topped the table for tackles attempted with 47, but Nuno Mendes recorded the most successful tackles with 23, illustrating the importance of the trio to PSG’s success.

Another Luso man credited heavily with the historic achievement is PSG’s sporting director Luís Campos, who has been with the club since June 2022 and has overseen the rebuilding of the squad. Such is the respect Campos has earned at the club, when his future was reported to be uncertain earlier this year, the PSG supporters displayed banners encouraging the 60-year-old that his future was in Paris. Campos signed a new five-year contract at the Parc des Princes last month.