Football fans around the world were treated to the showpiece event of the European club season on the weekend with Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan facing off in the Allianz Arena in Munich in the Champions League Final.
With a rarely matched global TV audience tuning in as two of the biggest teams in the sport faced off, anticipation was high for a classic and competitive contest.
It turned out to be a memorable night, but for all the wrong reasons if you were a neutral tuning in.
12 minutes into the game, PSG’s Moroccan right back Achraf Haikimi opened the scoring for the French side and Desire Doue doubled the lead eight minutes later.
Not that Inter really looked like getting back into the match from there, but things went from bad to worse in the second half as Doue scored his second before PSG ran riot, emerging 5-0 winners.
When it comes to finals, the hope is always that we are going to be treated to some sort of classic contest that will live long in the memories of those involved.
But occasionally, it just winds up with one team getting completely humiliated and it turns into a day they would love to forget.
Let’s dive into the history books and relive some of those one-sided affairs where the victory party could start before halftime.
1994 Champions League Final
We may as well stick with the Champions League to start off with and it was Inter’s local rivals enjoying this night in Athens.
AC Milan, coached by Fabio Capello, demolished Barcelona, leaving no doubt who were the champions of Europe.
Looking through the team lists there were no shortage of future managers on Barcelona’s side, with Pep Guardiola and Ronald Koeman as well as A-League double winning coach Gui Amor.
Not that it helped them avoid defeat on this night.
2019 FA Cup Final
One of the best parts of the FA Cup, or any knockout competition is the idea that a plucky underdog has the chance to upset their highly fancied opponent in a one-off fixture.
That’s what Watford were hoping would be the case when they met Manchester City in the 2019 FA Cup Final at Wembley.
It was only six years earlier that the about to be relegated Wigan stunned City on this stage.
21 minutes in and they were holding on, when a penalty shout was turned down… that was probably their last glimmer of hope.
Because from there, City were unstoppable.
To make it worse, when they met in the league the following season, City decided they were in a similarly ruthless mood.
2023 A-League Grand Final
While this weekend’s A-League decider went down to the wire, two years ago Melbourne City were expected to defeat the Central Coast Mariners with relative ease.
After all, it was the big budget Victorian side against the little engine that could out of Gosford.
What unfolded was the highest scoring A-League Grand Final in the competition’s two-decade history.
And unfortunately for City, they copped six of the seven goals scored.
2006 A-League Grand Final
In the A-League’s infancy, we were treated to a huge game between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United in front of a packed out stadium in Docklands.
Archie Thompson decided to turn it into his own personal playground, scoring five goals in his side’s 6-0 demolition job.
2008 NRL Grand Final
While parts of this season have been technically stricken from the history books, the scoreline from this game still holds its spot.
The year before they had faced off in the decider and the Storm had won 34-8.
Maybe Manly would be able to turn it around this time or at least keep it closer…
But holding Melbourne scoreless and putting 40 on yourself?
https://twitter.com/MWRLFC/status/1312816078767022083
2007 AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final has had more than it’s share of blowouts in the last 25 years, and those almost get talked about more than the nailbiters.
Consider that Brisbane’s 60 point win over Sydney in 2024 did not even crack the top five biggest victory margins since the year 2000.
In 2022 the Swans were on the end of an 81-point loss to Geelong and three years before that, their neighbours GWS forgot what time first bounce was, losing to Richmond by 89.
But the biggest win in an AFL Grand Final came in 2007 when the Cats absolutely mauled Port Adelaide by 119 points.
What is even scarier is that it could have been by a lot more if they kicked.
Change a few of those and you’re looking at 200 points.
2009 Super Rugby Grand Final
There was something in this era for one-sided Grand Finals and Super Rugby was not immune from it.
With the Crusaders taking a break from winning the Super Rugby title, the South African sides stepped up, with this Bulls effort the biggest Grand Final win in the competition’s history.
2003 Cricket World Cup Final
There were a couple of contenders for the cricket category here, but this dominant Aussie performance in South Africa takes the cake.
In the midst of their three-peat of World Cup titles, Ricky Ponting’s side could do no wrong as they demolished India in this decider.
Batting first, the duo of Gilchrist and Hayden flew out of the blocks before the keeper was dismissed with the score at 105 after 14 overs.
Hayden went five overs later and… well the duo of Ponting and Damien Martyn saw out the rest of the innings, hammering the Indian lineup.
The Aussies finished on 2/359 before the bowlers went to work and India had no chance of running down that total, all out for 234 in the 40th over.
Super Bowl XXIV
There was a real temptation to put the most recent Super Bowl on this list given Philadelphia had the game in hand before Kendrick Lamar started warming up for the halftime show.
But in January 1990, San Francisco put on a show for the ages, destroying the Denver Broncos in what is the highest winning margin in the big game’s history.
Joe Montana threw five touchdowns and the 49ers ran in three more as Denver had no answer for this red hot opponent.