Here it is, the biggest club football game in the world. Instead of the initial date of May 30, it's being held on August 23, 2020. Instead of taking place in a stadium packed with thousands of passionate fans (and thousands of corporate gladhanders), it's taking place in the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal in front of nobody besides for club staff and essential media. Instead of being the finale to months of two-leg endurance tests, it's the climax to two weeks of thrilling knockout football.

It isn't the Champions League final as we know it, and perhaps the strangest part is that one of the teams competing is Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain. They've never had much luck in the contest, always getting eliminated in the return legs, so it perhaps makes sense that they have excelled then those pesky games have been removed from the competition.

Thomas Tuchel's men are known for their explosiveness - a trait that, by design, can't be drawn out over 180 minutes. His superstar strikers of Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe have pace and flair, and what they occasionally lack in precision, they make up for in chances. They tend to wriggle free of their defenders and either take a shot or set one up for a teammate.

This never used to be the case but Tuchel has got his side together and playing as one unit instead of 11 egos. They visibly struggled against Atalanta in the quarterfinals and it was only in the semifinal against RB Leipzig that it looked as if they were all on the same page.

PSG are a side which has struggled with confidence before, so the improvement between rounds suggests Tuchel got into the ear of his men and convinced them this is a unique opportunity - a Champions League set up with rules that benefit them over others - as their play style grew leaps and bounds.

The repeated inclusion of Marquinhos and Angel di Maria surely helped too. Officially designated a centre-back, Marquinhos has proved himself to be a threat throughout the midfield and di Maria's assists are a thing of beauty; the man is a maestro of ball movement and can change the complexion of a game with a simple free kick, cross, pass or through-ball.

If there is one thing that is expected about this final it’s the inclusion of Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. 10 time finalists and only once, in the 2002/03 season, did they ever finish lower than the Round of 16.

It isn't simply history that says they should be here. Under manager Niko Kovac, Bayern were bobbing along, relying too much on their ageing players and big club bravado to carry them through. His replacement, club veteran Hansi Flick, was intended to simply put Bayern on an even keel; instead he's turned them into the footballing powerhouse they used to be.

The obvious example is the 8-2 slaughtering of FC Barcelona in the quarterfinals. As fun and satisfying as that game was, it was as down to Barca being bad as Bayern being good. It's the other games that should be considered the baseline.

In the Round of 16 against Chelsea and the semifinal against Lyon, both sides were handled and dismantled in ways that show this Bayern team has the skills and tactical nous to control the whole game.

The defense, which includes Joshua Kimmich, Alphonso Davies, Jerome Boateng and Niklas Sule are solid but also double up as pressure player who limit the space opponents have by holding a high line and getting the ball to Thomas "Raumdeuter" Muller, Ivan Perisic and Leon Goretzka who constantly swarm upfield while also providing service to football's most dangerous striker.

Robert Lewandowski is easily the best number 9 in the world; it isn't just that on 15 goals, he's outscored the rest of the Champions League - and a hat trick away from beating Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 17 with two less games played - it's that he's unselfish in front of goal too. He has six assists in the competition so far, and was involved in all goals scored against Chelsea in their second leg game.

The final should favor Bayern Munich. They have everything: the lineage, the pedigree, the firepower, a player named Robert Lewandowski. They are thorough in every part of the game. Yet, it's impossible to write off PSG who have grown into this tournament and will be looking to cap this one-of-a-kind tournament with a first-of-its-kind win.