If Tottenham were to become just the second Europa League holders to win the USC since 2012, they would have to produce better than Pedro Porro’s wayward effort in the opening minute.
Six minutes later, PSG began to show their quality, though an intricate team move resulted in an unbalanced Khvicha Kvaratskhelia dragging his shot wide.
Midway through the first half, Richarlison won the ball in the midfield for Spurs and burst forward, playing a one-two with Mohamed Kudus before unleashing a powerful first-time strike that new PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was forced to tip over the crossbar.
Kudus tried his luck soon after, only for a superb Marquinhos block to thwart him, before the impressive underdogs took the lead seven minutes from half time.
Cristian Romero headed Guglielmo Vicario’s free-kick into the penalty area, where João Palhinha emerged from the crowd to turn the ball goalwards – Chevalier made a terrific save to turn the ball onto the post, but he was helpless to stop Micky van de Ven from stabbing home the rebound.
Spurs were inches away from a second when Kudus threw himself at Richarlison’s header, only to see his headed effort strike the post.
Luis Enrique’s half-time team talk failed to deal with a major issue, as two minutes into the second half, another Spurs free-kick was played to Romero at the back post.
This time, he went for goal himself, and his header squirmed under the diving Chevalier and in for 2-0. The one-way traffic continued, as Porro and Kevin Danso saw efforts fly just wide of the upright.
With 25 minutes to play PSG finally had a shot on goal courtesy of Désiré Doué, who stung the gloves of Vicario before Fabián Ruiz picked up the rebound and set up Bradley Barcola to fire the ball home, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside against the Spaniard.
That ushered in a long period of Parisian pressure, which was proving fruitless until five minutes from time when Lee Kang-in drilled in a crisp strike from the edge of the area.
Deep into added time, PSG’s relentless attacks paid off as they completed the comeback, when Ousmane Dembélé’s cross was guided in by the head of Gonçalo Ramos.
That meant the USC would be decided by a penalty shootout, in which Tottenham immediately gained the advantage when Vitinha missed PSG’s first attempt.
Yet the Parisians were back level after three spot-kicks each as Van de Ven was denied by Chevalier. Things got worse for Spurs when Mathys Tel missed, opening the door for Nuno Mendes to slam home the winning penalty as PSG became the first French side to win the USC.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain)