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Under the lights of Munich’s Allianz Arena, Hakan Calhanoglu is on the verge of making history. When Inter Milan faces Paris Saint-Germain in the 2025 UEFA Champions League Final this Saturday, the Turkish midfielder has the chance to achieve a feat no player from his national team has ever accomplished before.
Kick-off is set for 22:00 CET (20:00 GMT). The match will be refereed by Romanian official Istvan Kovacs, with Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi as assistant referees. Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro will serve as the fourth official. The VAR team will be led by Dutch referee Dennis Higler.
At 30, Calhanoglu is enjoying the most productive season of his career. He has scored 11 goals and provided 8 assists in 46 matches in all competitions, mainly playing as a deep-lying playmaker under coach Simone Inzaghi. In the Champions League, he has scored 4 goals, including a decisive penalty in the semi-final against Barcelona.
If Inter win the trophy, Calhanoglu would become only the second player from the Turkish national team to lift the Champions League — after Arda Guler, who won it with Real Madrid in 2024.
He is also the first Turkish international to play in two Champions League finals, having featured in Inter’s 1–0 loss to Manchester City in Istanbul two years ago.
A goal on Saturday would make him the first Turkish national team player to score in a Champions League final.
Inter Milan’s journey to Munich marks a revival for the club. They finished fourth in the league stage of the Champions League with 19 points, progressing through the new format before eliminating Feyenoord, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona in the knockout rounds. Along the way, they scored 26 goals and conceded 11.
This will be Inter’s seventh appearance in a European Cup or Champions League final. The club previously won the competition in 1964, 1965, and 2010. A victory on Saturday would be their fourth European title, placing them alongside Ajax and Barcelona in the all-time rankings.
For Paris Saint-Germain, the stakes are equally high. This is only their second Champions League final — the first, in 2020, ended with a 1–0 loss to Bayern Munich.
Despite finishing 15th in the league stage with 13 points, Luis Enrique’s team showed resilience in the knockout rounds. PSG narrowly defeated Brest, then eliminated Liverpool in a dramatic penalty shootout, before beating Aston Villa and Arsenal to reach the final. They have scored a tournament-best 33 goals and conceded 13.
With Kylian Mbappe widely expected to leave this summer, this final may mark the end of an era — the last chance for PSG’s star-studded squad to win Europe’s biggest prize together.
Remarkably, Saturday’s final will be the first official match between Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. Both clubs have enjoyed domestic dominance and regular European competition over the past decade, but their paths have never crossed in UEFA tournaments until now.
Inter bring cohesion, experience, and a clear tactical approach under Inzaghi. PSG rely on individual brilliance and attacking firepower. This contrast promises an exciting and intense final.
A win for Inter would secure their place among Europe’s modern elite. For PSG, it would be a historic first Champions League trophy.
Since the European Cup began in 1955, rebranded as the UEFA Champions League in 1992, 23 different clubs have won the title.
The most successful clubs include:
Should PSG win, they would become the 24th club to claim the trophy and only the second French club to do so after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
For Inter, a victory would tie them with Ajax and Barcelona, cementing their status among Europe’s football elite.
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