AC Milan star Samuel Chukwueze has made a surprising prediction ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final between Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
Appearing in the competition’s final for only the second time, the Parisians — the last French team to win a major European trophy with their 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup triumph — will be aiming to lift the title.
Nevertheless, they must overcome the experienced Italian side, who are making their seventh appearance in the final and have won the title three times, with the showdown set for the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Ordinarily, the Nigerian international might be expected to support their fellow Milan-based rivals, but he has different plans in mind.
"If Inter Milan win, our fans will be very angry with us, so I don’t want them to win. Even as a Milanista, I honestly want Paris Saint-Germain to win," Chukwueze told Flashscore.com.
"Honestly, this final is going to be a very tough and intense encounter. Both teams have shown great quality and deserve to be here, so it won’t be an easy match for either side.
"At the end of the day, I just want the best team on the night to come out on top and win the trophy."
With 167 matches played, PSG have the fourth-highest number of games without winning the competition since its inception in 1955, trailing only Arsenal (211), Dynamo Kyiv (185), and Atletico Madrid (176).
A win for Luis Enrique’s men would set a new record for the most games played before winning a first Champions League title.
Currently, Manchester City hold that record, having lifted the trophy in their 117th match after defeating Inter Milan in the 2023 final.
Chukwueze acknowledges that facing Inter Milan is very difficult challenge, largely because of the depth and quality within their squad.
"Playing against Inter Milan is always a tough challenge because they’re a strong, experienced team that knows how to handle big games.
"We haven’t faced this current PSG squad yet, so it’s a different kind of test. This season alone, we’ve played Inter about five times, and didn’t lose any of those matches.
"We managed to win three and drew the other two. Still, every game is different, and we know we’ll need to give everything to get a positive result."
Earlier, winger Moses Simon, an international teammate of Chukwueze, had expressed his support for the reigning French champions.
"I’m not surprised to see Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final. Normally, they have the money and they could buy as many quality players as they can (especially) for a club that could sign (Lionel) Messi and Neymar Jr," he told Flashscore.com.
"Of course, being in the final is not new, it is their plan. I hope they would win it. This will not be for them; it would be for France as well.
"PSG have all it takes (to beat Inter Milan). I have played against them; they have quality players.
"Of course, they should not underrate the Inter Milan team. They have good players like Martinez – he always scores goals. They have a strong team and have been together for long, same as PSG.
"I will not say the best team should win; all I want is PSG to win."
Experience has played a crucial role for Simone Inzaghi’s Inter side in this season’s competition. Only Atletico Madrid have allocated a higher percentage of minutes to players aged 30 and above than Inter
In total, their veteran players have logged 6,151 minutes, which is the most by any team in a single Champions League campaign since Juventus’ 6,186 minutes in 2016/17.
On the other side, PSG have handed just 1,350 minutes to players over 30, and all of them have come from Marquinhos.
Shina OludareFlashscore