Inter head into the Champions League final hoping that a more experienced squad, with 158 career finals played among them, will help them to overcome Paris Saint-Germain’s young team, who count 131.
Inter hold a clear advantage over Paris Saint-Germain in terms of experience heading into Saturday’s Champions League final. The Nerazzuri count 158 finals among the current players in the squad, 27 more than those played by the Parisians’ (131) much younger team.
But the gap is not a surprising one, given the ongoing revolution at PSG. Stardom and established names are no longer central to the club’s project, and instead, building a fruitful and reliable long-term project has turned into the priority.
On the other hand, Inter is filled with veterans who are familiar with the feeling of carrying pressure on their shoulders during decisive matches. At the same time, there are players on both teams who have both experience and plenty of years left in the sport, like Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Which players have the most experience in finals?
Considering finals from all major competitions, at national and club level, Marquinhos leads the pecking order with the most appearances in a final among the Paris Saint-Germain squad. The Brazilian centre-back has 24 under his belt, followed by Ousmane Dembele (12) and Lucas Hernandez (11).
Marquinhos is undoubtedly the face of PSG’s modern history. Having spent 13 seasons in the French capital, the skipper is their most decorated player in history and is one of the remaining survivors of the 2020 Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich.
As for the Milan outfit, the most experienced is Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with 18. The Armenian has already won the Europa League and Conference League with Manchester United and Roma, respectively. He is now in search of Champions League glory to complete a European hat-trick.
Behind the former Man United and Arsenal playmaker are defender Stefan de Vrij (13) and skipper Lautaro Martinez (12), although 23-year-old Nicola Zalewski also has an impressive final record, with a Europa League and a Conference League under his belt, also with Roma.
