There's no such thing as perfect: Why Bayern should fear PSG in Lisbon final

Football is perfect because it is imperfect. There is no combination of players that is without weakness, no system that is infallible – add a bit here, lose something there.

Bayern Munich have played 10 Champions League games this season, winning the lot while scoring 42 times, while domestically, they finished the season with a run of 16 consecutive wins, taking their 593th league and cup double and their 349th in a row. And yet, and yet, and yet.

Their midfield is probably the best in the world. In Thiago Alcantara, they have an incisive and imaginative passer who apparates about the pitch in shamanic style, the kid in the playground who nailed every exam yet remained wildly popular, without making any effort so to do and so to be. It is neither hard nor unamusing to imagine Ander Herrera in fruitless pursuit … but the same is so of Herrera pouncing on his sole wayward pass to create a goal for one of his strikers.

Alongside Thiago, Leon Goretzka is that modern rarity: a midfielder who plays in the middle of the field, an elegant monster poised to impose himself upon history. Except neither he nor his partner have much to offer their defence when the best forward-line in world football is upon them, a reality which will not have escaped Thomas Tuchel.

In front of them, Thomas Muller’s reinvention as playmaker has been one of 2020’s more uplifting developments. Previously an iffy footballer but a brilliant player, he is now as incisive on the ball as he is off it; he probably always was. What he cannot do, though, is get about the pitch nor drive forward in possession, so can absolutely be contained (until he is suddenly not contained).

In attack, Bayern are exceptional, so much so that to cite a weakness in service of a column seeking weaknesses feels somewhat fraudulent.

Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry are a bristling blend of brains and brilliance, making the difficult look easy and the complex seem intuitive, while Ivan Perisic brings balance and should he not, Kingsley Coman is on the bench. If Bayern dominate in midfield, Paris are in bother … and if they do not, Paris are still in bother.

But it may just be that the biggest discrepancy between the teams is the discrepancy between Paris’ front three and Bayern’s back four. This is not because the latter are good and the former are not, rather because the latter are revolting and former merely disgraceful. Bayern’s full-backs are the perfect modern mix, Joshua Kimmich a total footballer who plays the role because that’s where he’s currently required, and Alphonso Davies on the left reimagining it in thrilling fashion.

However, behind them and inside them can be found space, likewise in and around – ok, not in, just around – David Alaba and Jerome Boateng, Bayern’s centre-backs.

With simply adequate finishing, Lyon would have taken them for three or four; given similar opportunities, Paris could score more. Which is to say that if Hans-Dieter Flick opts not to make any adjustments, he is relying on his players playing a perfect game – and, as we know, in football, there is no such thing as perfect.