Alasdair Mackenzie reporting from Allianz Arena, Munich

Inter’s quest to become European champions for a fourth time came to a harrowing end in Munich as they were dismantled 5-0 a by brilliant Paris Saint-Germain.

Luis Enrique’s side became the first French team to clinch a Treble of Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League.

It was a brutal end to a brilliant run from Inter. They showed none of the dogged determination, ruthless efficiency and never-say-die attitude that had taken them this far.

A bad start only got worse as Inter were blown away by the brilliance of teenager Desire Doue, and Simone Inzaghi was powerless to steer the game back in his team’s favour.

Destination Calcio was in place at the Allianz Arena to watch it all unfold.

Inter invasion in Munich

The city centre swarmed with Inter fans as tens of thousands of them arrived in Munich. There was no direction you could turn without seeing a Nerazzurri shirt, despite the roasting 30-degree temperatures that made it a sweltering day for open-air festivities.  

The Interisti, who reportedly numbered around 40,000 in Bavaria but could easily have been more, waved banners, sang songs and gulped beers under the blazing sun.  

The atmosphere inside an Inter fan zone at Odeonsplatz, where big screens were set up to broadcast the game, was rocking by lunchtime, while we also encountered groups of Interisti making their presence felt in Munich’s most iconic square, stunning Marienplatz.

The scene is set

Of all the accusations you can aim at UEFA, saying they don’t try to put on a show is not one of them.

Before kick-off we enjoyed the throwback beats of a live set from Linkin Park featuring dystopian dancers, before violinist David Garrett pulled out a version of the White Stripes song Seven Nation Army that proved predictably popular with the Italians in attendance – it being something of an Azzurri anthem.

Two Javiers then stepped onto the Allianz Arena turf, Pastore and Zanetti, to bring out the iconic big-eared trophy.

As they did so, the PSG fans put the final touches on their choreography – a giant Paris Saint-Germain banner with the message ‘together, we are invincible’ in French. Their team would soon prove them right.

The curse of the ex

After a sloppy start with more than a few stray passes, Inter were sliced open like prosciutto. A slide-rule pass found Doue free in the area, and he controlled the ball superbly before squaring to give Achraf Hakimi a tap-in.

Despite it being a Champions League final, the former Nerazzurri right-back refused to celebrate against his former club, having netted right in front of the Italian fans.

The other end of the Allianz Arena became a smouldering, vibrating setting of wild celebration as red flares went off to celebrate the opener.

Doue dominates

PSG were making all the noise and playing all the football. Inter’s nightmare start continued when Doue again punished their defensive doziness, finding space on the right wing and firing a shot in off the leg of Federico Dimarco.

The Inter left-back had been at fault for the opener, leaving everyone onside with his poor positioning, and this time didn’t get close enough to Doue, turning his back on the shot as it cannoned off him to wrong-foot Yann Sommer.

Luis Enrique’s decision over whether to start Doue or Bradley Barcola was the big selection talking point ahead of kick-off, but picking the teenager proved to be a masterstroke as he notched a goal and assist by the 20-minute mark.

PSG puts it to bed

Two goals in nine second-half minutes ensured there would be no way back for Inter.

A desperate Inzaghi had thrown on Yann Bisseck and Nicola Zalewski for Benjamin Pavard and a despairing Dimarco early in the second half, but then had to replace Bisseck with Matteo Darmian after he got injured.

The two stars of the night, playmaker Vitinha and Doue, combined for the third, the latter finishing calmly past Sommer. It came just moments after the 19-year-old had made a mockery of Alessandro Bastoni with a delightful flick.

In the 72nd minute, an old foe came back to haunt Inter as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who up to that point had left his shooting boots at home, was sent flying through one-on-one and calmly steered a shot past Sommer to make it four and put the result beyond any doubt.

The final nail in the coffin

If anything, the scoreline could have been worse than it was. Barcola, fresh off the bench, sent Francesco Acerbi for a taxi to glide into space in the box and looked certain to score, only to hit the side-netting.

It was another precocious teenager who eventually put the cherry on the Parisian cake, substitute Senny Mayulu finding space in the area to fire home a fifth and spark the wildest celebrations of the night as PSG substitutes flooded on to the pitch to join in.

Iconic moment for Marquinhos

By the time the trophy was hoisted into the air, there was a deathly silence in an almost-deserted Inter end to contrast with the buoyant euphoria of a PSG support celebrating their first Champions League trophy at the other.

The French side were more than worthy winners, a team of exceptional speed, skill and youthful exuberance who were almost impossible not to take to during their run to the final. They saved their best for last, putting Inter to the sword with a devastating display.

Captain Marquinhos, the only survivor of PSG’s defeat by Bayern Munich in the final five years ago, was at the centre of the celebrations as he hoisted the famous trophy into the Munich night sky, golden ticker tape raining down on the history-making squad.