The two finalists of the last edition, Bayern Munich and PSG, face off this Wednesday with the memory of the August match at Estadio da Luz, where the protagonists were neither Neymar nor Lewandowski, but Kingsley Coman, MVP of the final.
The Frenchman completed Bayern's treble by scoring the only goal of the game in the 60th minute, with a cross header from Kimmich that surprised Keylor Navas.
Real Madrid - Liverpool and Bayern - PSG, in the quarterfinals of the Champions League
Kaiser Bayern reigns again
Coman's grief for his friend Kimpembe
That Champions League is the most valuable trophy of the immense record that Coman accumulates at the age of 24.
Playing for PSG, Juventus or Bayern is practically a guarantee of a trophy at the end of the season for the superiority of these teams in their national tournaments.
And the French winger trained in Paris, made a name for himself in Turin and is now a key player in the Munich super champion.
With 23 titles, he has become a walking museum, including nine league titles, a trophy that has never resisted him since his debut with PSG in the 2012-13 season.
Chiellini is the footballer who has lifted the league title for the most consecutive years with 9, followed by Arturo Vidal and Coman with 8.
Raised in the quarry of the Parisian club, his irruption was as strong as his character was later shown to be.
There he established a great friendship with the central Kimpembe, with whom he shared a flat during that stage.
At 16 years and 8 months, he became the youngest debutant in PSG history.
Qatari Sheikh Nasser Al-Khelaïfi had only been in Paris for a couple of years but had already demonstrated the depth of his portfolio by signing figures like Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Lucas Moura to consolidate his reign in France.
The coach at that time, Laurent Blanc, barely had the young promise and he decided not to renew his contract to leave the following year after playing only one game the first season and three in the second (55 minutes in total).
Coman packed his bags for Turin, and among his luggage he took two Ligue 1s, a League Cup and a French Super Cup.
Juventus were rubbing their hands with the arrival of another French promise at zero cost, after the signing two years earlier of Paul Pogba from the Manchester United quarry.
In 2015, his first season, he was a regular setback for Allegri, leading the team to the Champions League final, in which they lost to Barcelona.
Coman watches as Neymar scores Barcelona's third goal in the 2015 Champions League final in Berlin.Matthias Hangst
Halfway through the following season, he received a call from Guardiola, who was then coaching Bayern, and the winger did not hesitate to ask for the pass with the promise of being a replacement for the Robben - Ribéry couple.
Juventus decided to transfer it with a purchase option of 20 million.
La
Vecchia Signora
ended up winning Serie A and the Cup that year, so Coman's stint in Italy, albeit brief, earned him two league titles, two cups and an Italian super cup.
Guardiola knew how to manage the young talent well, who began to be a regular in the calls of the French team at the age of 20.
Despite the departure of the Catalan coach the following year and the arrival of Ancelotti, Bayern decided to exercise the purchase option to seal the future of the Frenchman in Munich.
Five years later, Coman has won a Champions League, five Bundesligas, three German Cups, four German Super Cups, a European Super Cup and a Club World Cup.
Punished for injuries
Despite his enormous track record, injuries have slowed the progression of the winger, who still does not get the fixed tag in the starting eleven.
His ordeal began in Germany, since he had not had physical mishaps before.
In all, Coman has suffered 30 injuries in six years at Bayern, which have caused him to miss 82 games.
But what hurt the most was missing the World Cup won by his team in Russia 2018 due to an ankle injury.
The ailment, for which he had to undergo surgery for the second time before the World Cup, made him even consider retiring at the age of 22 if he needed a third intervention.
“I will not accept a third operation.
It would mean that maybe my foot is not made for this level, "said the winger.
"I would lead another life, another anonymous life."
Since the arrival of Hans Flick to the bench, he is reaching his best version.
Last year he managed to play 38 games in a season for the first time, playing all of the Champions League games.
This campaign has been 30 at this point, with three goals and 10 assists in 22 Bundesliga games.
This Wednesday, in the absence of Lewandowski, injured, the responsibility for the goal is distributed and the PSG youth squad hopes to enforce the former's law again to overcome the tie against the team that showed him the exit door and deprived him of the European glory.
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