After the 3-0, Denzel Dumfries winds his bottle frustrated: it will not be his final again

It seems as if he wakes up as soon as the hands of substitute Davide Fratesi gently land on his shoulders. Denzel Dumfries stands on the center line, a few meters from the player tunnel, and hesitantly hesitating. The defender of Inter, for more than a minute, seemed petrified here in the sultry Allianz Arena in Munich. The arms in the side, the head bent, the look at infinity.

He had hoped that this time it would be his evening, after the tight defeat of two years ago. But the second Champions League final in his career ended in the worst way on Saturday evening. Opponent Paris Saint-Germain was elusive, deadly efficient. On the signs above the field is a result that Dumfries would rather not see: 5-0, the biggest defeat ever in a final of this tournament.

While on the other side of the field the team of trainer Luis Enrique is celebrating the prize where the wealthy Qatarese owners of PSG have been dreaming for more than ten years, Dumfries is slowing to the Italian audience. For a now half -empty grandstand, the Dutchman gives three teammates a encouraging tap on their arm. Then he sinks through the knees, the head down, a hand under the chin. For a long time he stays that way.

As the underlying party, he and his teammates had started the final, against an energetic and difficult to stop PSG. But they had been so often this season. Who expected Inter in the semi -finals to win from the super talents of FC Barcelona with their smooth position play? And yet it had succeeded, to a large extent thanks to Dumfries, who colored the diptych with two goals and three assists.

He has become an « idol » for the Milanese fans, sports journalist Filippo Conticello told La GazZetta Dello Sport In the run -up to competition. After a difficult start, almost four years ago, Dumfries (29) had developed at Inter Stormy. In the team of trainer Simone Inzaghi he is considered « one of the most important weapons ». With his inspiration, he often leads the fight.

Against PSG, Inter again aims for the threat of Dumfries, the right wing player in a five -man midfield. He is often dangerously high on the field. Only under pressure does he collapse to cover the fast winger Chvitsja Kvaratschelia. But as soon as Inter intercepts the ball, Dumfries immediately seeks space. But unlike Barcelona, ​​the hoped depth pass rarely comes on Saturday evening.

‘Hard feet’

Two years ago he was here too, in the final of the largest club tournament on earth. They narrowly lost 1-0, against a superior Manchester City. How Dumfries processed that evening? « I think he went on vacation immediately afterwards, » says Daniel Esajas, one of his better friends. « He is quite relaxed in things like that. » Another might think: what if that chance never comes again? But at Dumfries it works the other way around, says Esajas. « In his head it is: I will be so that that chance will come again. »

As a teenager he already had that unwavering trust, saw Esajas, who met Dumfries at Amateurclub BVV Barendrecht. At that time, no scout saw anything in the defender, but he himself never doubted that he would get world top. Much has been written about the route that went through: from Sparta, to SC Heerenveen, to PSV, to Internazionale. « And people everywhere said: this is real Max, » said Esajas.

Maybe it’s because of his « hard feet ». Dumfries started himself, almost seven years ago, in his first season at PSV. Physically he excelled, only technically it was all more careful, he judged in front of the cameras. His passing was sometimes inaccurate, he was not always ball -resistant. Or as the defender summarized it himself: « It sometimes looks a bit rude. »

Endless he trained for himself to make his feet ‘softer’, saw Esajas. Many hundreds of extra work that the outside world never saw. Dribbling, accepting and bouncing, also with tennis balls, for better ball control. Yet that image continues to pursue him, notes Esajas, especially in the Netherlands. As if the outside world time and again it is surprising how decisive Dumfries can be.

The defender himself doesn’t care, his friend knows. For Dumfries, doubt is primarily a motivation: he is going to work even harder to prove the wrong of others. He does that with a now large team of specialists who help him get just a little better. Including a mental coach, a personal trainer in the field of positioning and a coach who makes him more light-hearted and agile: Oud athlete Errol Esajas, the uncle of Daniel.

The effects are not to be missed, says journalist Conticello, club follower of Inter in recent years La Gazzetta. According to him, Dumfries has become even better since the lost final of 2023, even decisive in the team. « He scored eleven goals this season. That is very unusual for someone in his position. »

Use space

One of those improvements is how much Dumfries succeeds in finding the space to make an action and to use its speed. Because it may seem as if Barcelona left the winger of Inter large parts of the semi -final, but that was mainly the merit of Dumfries himself, says Patrick Woerst, the trainer who helps him improve his positioning and observation capacity.

This can also be seen in the final against PSG, albeit not as often as in earlier duels. An example is the promotion after 36 minutes, if Center defender Benjamin Pavard has the ball and Dumfries sags on the right to offer himself. Previously he would have ran to his own goal with his body in such cases, says Woerst. But such a « closed position » makes players vulnerable: they do not know where their opponent is, cannot see where the space is and they need more time to open themselves.

In recent years, Dumfries has therefore trained a lot to be able to be « open », says Woerst. If he now offers himself, his upper body is already half to the goal of the opponent. Dumfries uses a dribble pass, where he walks sideways, the legs crossing each other. « You notice that, because he also works with Errol (his running trainer), he can perform something like that very well, » says Woerst. The result is that he has more time and space for an action, although the pass he then gives on Saturday to attacker Lautaro Martinez does not lead to anything.

Another example is how he makes room for a pass, a few minutes later. As soon as Inter intercepts the ball on the left, Dumfries starts to dribble backwards on the right, towards the sidelines. Every time he tries to disappear « he from the field of vision » of his opponents, says Woerst. The result is that the distance is so large that PSG-Back Nuno Mendes is too late to block the cross. But this ball also ends without danger.

Sloppy

The difference with previous rounds is that Inter is hardly in position on Saturday Dumfries. Just as the team barely comes to the flawless combinations with which the team of Inzaghi sometimes crossed the entire field within a few ball contacts this season. That has a lot to do with the scorching edition that PSG plays. At the same time, Inter is often sloppy in the passing: regularly balls in a promising position are simply submitted to an opponent.

PSG, on the other hand, is just as efficient and threatening as usual. That soon leads to the opening goal, after eleven minutes, when Vitinha can come up undisturbed from midfield. With his pass, he finds Désiré Doué, on paper on the right winger, but now surfaced on the left. For the goal, he has teammates for choosing and goes for Achraf Hakimi: 1-0.

The second goal also falls fast, from a pass by Ousmane Dembélé behind the defense on Doué. His shot bounces through the flank of inter-wing player Federico Dimarco in the goal. At that time, Dumfries is still fanatically in his hands, in an attempt to encourage his teammates. But if Inter walks to the dressing room half an hour later, many heads are already hanging down.

It seems like a matter of time for PSG scores again, so often the French team is dangerous through its rapid vanguard. If that goal falls after a good hour – again Doué – Dumfries also shows the first traces of annoyance. He takes a drink from a bottle of drinks and then winds it frustrated. Ten minutes later, after the 4-0 of Kvaratschelia, he hides his head in his shirt.

It is a result that hurts, Dumfries says a little later in front of the cameras. But the also have to accept it: Inter did not succeed in playing according to the match plan, so another outcome would have been unjustified. After the 3-0 he already realized that it was not going to happen. That again this Saturday it would not be the final of Denzel Dumfries, but that he would be a spectator of the first time PSG won the Champions League.

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