Olympique de Marseille will be à jamais les premiers —  forever the first — after stunning a high-powered AC Milan team to lift 'the cup with the big ears' in 1993, but their arch-rivals are now just a game away from emulating them 27 years later.

Following their semi-final defeat of RB Leipzig, another German club now stands between the Ligue 1 Uber Eats champions and their very first Champions League crown. 

"I want to keep making history. We already made history by getting to the semi-finals after 25 years. And now, getting to a final that we dreamed of, that we worked so much for, we’re really happy, but we don’t want to stop this at the semi-finals," said captain Thiago Silva, who is likely preparing for his final game as a PSG player having only signed a two-month extension to his contract that ended in June.

"We've had some difficult moments, us as well as the fans, but that's part of a the process," added midfielder Marco Verratti, who had never previously gone beyond the quarter-finals with the club since his arrival in Paris in 2012.

"Only one team can win the Champions League and each year there are five or six who can hope to do that. It's really tough to do it. It's great to be in the final, but there's still 90 minutes to go. We don't want to stop now. We must above all prepare well for it, and then try to play our best."

Having suffered a calf injury in early August, Verratti is unlikely to start the game, even though the Italy international has returned to training. There is optimism first-choice goalkeeper Keylor Navas — a three-time Champions League winner with previous club Real Madrid — could start as he continues his recovery from a thigh strain sustained in the gripping quarter-final win over Atalanta.

If the Costa Rica international is sidelined, Sergio Rico will continue to deputise, while Thomas Tuchel, who could become only the sixth coach to complete a league-cup-Champions League treble, is likely to maintain a three-man midfield of Marquinhos, Ander Herrera and Leandro Paredes with both Verratti and Idrissa Gueye short of full match fitness.

Presnel Kimpembe will continue alongside Thiago Silva at the heart of the defence, and ex-Schalke man Thilo Kehrer will join former Bayern player Juan Bernat on the flanks of a back four that boast the best defensive record in the competition.

Tuchel's men have conceded just five times en route to the final, and will require that solidity against a Bayern side that have scored 42 goals in ten matches in the competition, and are just three shy of the Champions League record as they go in search of a sixth European title.

"Speaking of Bayern Munich is easy. All of us who enjoy football see Bayern Munich as a role model in both the European and world stage. A team that plays with a high intensity and has a lot of quality," Thiago Silva told PSG TV of the German champions, who defeated another French side, Olympique Lyonnais, in the semi-finals.

"From their 'keeper, who is among the greatest in the world, to their striker who is the current top scorer in this season’s [UEFA] Champions League, and has been putting in great performances. Anyway, Bayern Munich must be regarded as one the best teams in the world. 

"We must respect their team, and try to play in our style, as we’ve been doing all season, to play at our highest level. And we’re aware of all that comes along with a final, the motivation on the other side. Unfortunately we won’t get that expected atmosphere of a final without the crowd.

"So, this will be unlike any other final. But I’m sure they’ll get their game going, as we’ll try and play ours, hopefully more successfully."

Probable teams:

PSG: Rico (or Navas); Kehrer, Thiago Silva (c), Kimpembe, Bernat; Herrera, Marquinhos, Paredes; Di Maria, Mbappé, Neymar

Bayern: Neuer (c); Kimmich, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Thiago, Goretzka; Gnabry, Müller, Perisic; Lewandowski

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