Yann Sommer wanted to close a gap in his palmarès, but instead he experienced a Champions League final to forget with Inter Milan.
01.06.2025, 03:32
01.06.2025, 08:11
SDA
He almost made it. Yann Sommer almost slipped past the crowd of journalists without having to answer any questions. But then a Swiss calls him over. And on this evening in Munich, on which he suffered one of the biggest defeats of his career, Yann Sommer is just as Yann Sommer always is. Friendly, courteous, level-headed.
It's not an in-depth analysis that the 36-year-old dictates into the microphone, but after a match like this Champions League final against Paris Saint Germain, it's probably enough to simply realize: "They were simply better than us today."
Doué and Dembélé on the move
Luis Enrique's team had put Inter Milan under pressure from the very first second, not allowing the Italians to develop their game at all. And after 20 minutes, Sommer, who had kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the Champions League this season (seven), had already had to pick the ball out of the net twice.
It was not because the former Swiss international goalkeeper was not up to his usual standard at his old stomping ground of the Allianz Arena in Munich - but the French attacks rolled towards Sommer with such cadence that the Italian defense found itself in disarray time after time - not least when Ousmane Dembélé on one side and Désiré Doué on the other launched rapid counter-attacks.
The 19-year-old was something of the man of the match for PSG with one assist and two goals. An honor that could also have gone to Sommer had the Nerazzurri taken to the field with a similar self-confidence that saw them knock out not only Barcelona, but another heavyweight in Bayern Munich, in the knockout phase of the Champions League.
The attempt to be proud
The Tifosi had repeatedly described their goalkeeper as "Magico Yann Sommer" after he had driven the opposition's attacking players to despair with his saves. But Sommer was unable to work his magic in this final. "We missed everything we've done well in recent weeks," he says, referring to the division of space, work against the ball and transition phases.
The Zurich native had said beforehand that this game was the most important of his career. Because it offered him the chance to close a gap in his impressive palmarès. That of the international title. The fact that he didn't manage to do so gnaws at him. "It's very disappointing, but I try to be proud of what we've achieved this season, how we got here in the first place." Because Inter have actually played a very good season, Sommer states. "But we're missing the titles, that's clear."
The question of the future
Of course, on such a global stage as the Champions League offers year after year, it doesn't last long with a casual chat among compatriots. And so the crowd around Sommer in the belly of the arena gets bigger and bigger. In the stiflingly hot climate, elbows are now extended just as much as camera tripods.
And Sommer hears a question that tends not to decrease in frequency with increasing age. Whether he will stay at Inter Milan and whether he believes the team can compete for another European title. He, whose contract with Inter is valid for another year, replies that he feels at home in Milan and that he has absolute confidence that the team will be able to compete with the best in Europe again.
Of course he says that. Anything else would have been surprising. And yet you can tell how happy he is that he can now leave for good. The team bus is waiting just a few meters behind him. The engine is already running.
