History of French teams in UEFA Champions League finals

Partner Authors Updated: 26 May 25 15:14

Only one French side has ever been crowned European champions - Marseille back in 1993 - but several have come close in the continent's biggest club competition.

With Paris Saint-Germain hoping to finally lift the famous trophy when they meet Inter Milan in this year's final in Munich on Saturday to restore some French pride in Europe, here we look back at the history of Ligue 1 teams who have competed in UEFA Champions League finals down the years.

Before the revamp of the competition in 1992, Reims were runners-up in the old European Cup twice in 1956 and 1959, while Saint Etienne were beaten finalists in 1976 and Marseille suffered penalty heartache when losing to Red Star Belgrade in the 1991 final.

However, Marseille were to make up for that defeat just a couple of years later when they edged out the great AC Milan.

Marseille 1-0 AC Milan - 1993 UEFA Champions League final

The first final to take place after the competition was completely reinvented saw Marseille triumph 1-0 in Munich against AC Milan.

In a largely uninspiring affair at the Olympiastadion, Basile Boli scored the only goal of the game just before half-time.

Milan, who had been one of Europe's outstanding teams in the late 1980s and early 90s, pushed for an equaliser but they couldn't get past the stubborn Marseille defence.

Marseille’s triumph 32 years ago remains the club’s greatest-ever night, although they failed to build on their memorable UEFA Champions League glory and they were actually relegated just a year later amid serious off-field issues.

Monaco 0-3 Porto - 2004 UEFA Champions League final

It was over a decade later before another French side made it all the way to the final, this time Monaco suffering defeat at the hands of Jose Mourinho's Porto in Gelsenkirchen in 2004.

Monaco had topped Group C, finishing ahead of Deportivo La Coruna, PSV Eindhoven and AEK Athens to proceed to the knockout stage, where they then saw off Locomotiv Moscow first in the last 16, edging out the Russian side on the away goals rule.

Thereafter, Monaco excelled, impressively beating European kings Real Madrid in the last eight and Chelsea in the semi-finals.

Porto, however, were too good for them in Germany in the final as goals from Carlos Alberto, Deco and Dmitri Alenichev secured a comfortable win and catapulted Mourinho to stardom in the process.

The 2004 final is the closest the eight-time French champions have come to continental glory although they have often caught the eye in Europe since, most notably when reaching the quarter-finals in 2015 and the semis two years later.

Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Bayern Munich - 2020 UEFA Champions League final

For a club the size of PSG, who have had wealthy owners since 2011, they have strangely only ever reached one previous UEFA Champions League final.

That came five years ago when they met German giants Bayern Munich in Lisbon and it ended in bitter disappointment for the most decorated Ligue 1 team.

En route to the final, PSG had topped Group A, finishing above Real Madrid, Club Brugge and Galatasaray, before seeing off Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta in the last 16 and quarter-finals.

Then, in the last four, they got the better of RB Leipzig, winning 3-0 with goals from Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat to set up a mouth-watering meeting with Bayern.

As is often the case, though, the final mostly failed to live up to expectations and it was Bayern who ground out a 1-0 success in Europe’s biggest club occasion with Kingsley Coman the matchwinner with a goal just before the hour mark.

PSG will now be aiming to make up for that defeat when they take on Inter this week and they approach Saturday’s showpiece in fine form, winning their last four games that includes a Coupe De France victory, while they have also knocked out Premier League trio Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal in the knockout stages.

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