UCL final: PSG and Arsenal set Budapest on fire on Saturday

The UEFA Champions League final is billed as the “best attack” (Paris Saint-Germain) versus the “best defense” (Arsenal) in European football, the unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object.
And like all narrative clichés, there is a strong rooting in reality.
On Saturday night, PSG could finish with the highest-scoring season of any team in the Champions League era, while Arsenal have conceded less than half a goal per game (0.43) in this tournament. PSG are expected to lay siege to the Gunners’ massed defensive third, with Arsenal relying on the ever-familiar (and effective) strategy of set-pieces in response, with the occasional foray into transition.
But it’s equally likely that this isn’t what we’ll see on Saturday at Puskas Arena.
Both managers, Luis Enrique of PSG and Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, know very well the value of misdirection and versatility. After a wild buccaneering run in the first leg against Bayern Munich – final score, 5-4 PSG – which saw them go man for man all over the pitch and turn the clash into a fast-forwarding tarmac race, PSG regained control in the second leg. Aided by Ousmane Dembélé’s opening goal, they managed to get through thanks to clogged passing lanes, controlled pace and breaks from deep. Luis Enrique’s attacking juggernaut had just 27% of the ball in the second half and, significantly, they felt more than comfortable playing that way.
It was the equivalent of Michael Buble getting a diamond grill and rapping instead of singing. And make it work.
Arteta is also capable of pulling tactical rabbits out of a hat. Arsenal have moved on from possession – it’s just one of many options available to Arteta and is a stark contrast to PSG. We may not know the ‘how’ of Luis Enrique’s vision for Saturday – as we saw against Bayern, they are also more than capable of turning things around – but we know the ‘who’.
Assuming Achraf Hakimi is fit enough to start, the starting XI is ready. Not so with Arsenal. In addition to the midfield scenario above, Arteta has choices to make both at left-back (the more athletic Piero Hincapié, or the more pass-oriented Riccardo Calafiori?) and in attack: do you choose the wrecking ball that is Viktor Gyökeres or the more rounded Kai Havertz who, as superstition is part of football even at the highest level, has already scored a Champions League winner in a final?, attacking mentality, making the extra pass to find the cut of recent seasons (he learned his trade under Pep Guardiola, after all: particularly the pass-heavy version of Pep we saw between 2016 and 2019) to what they have become this year: a more physical, tighter and more risk-averse unit. One that relies less on taking the game to the opposition and more on punishing mistakes, individual moments (which is why a boy like the unpredictable Eberechi Eze was such a success in the summer) and yes… set pieces.
But – and too many overlook this – it’s not that they can’t go back. We saw some of that when they faced Manchester City in the league, a game they lost, but also one in which they tried to beat their opponent. And, to some extent, the change in style from the Martin Odegaard-Bukayo Saka right-flank possession chain they relied on so heavily last season had to do with the injuries that slowed them both down last season.
Now that they’re fit and firing again, who’s to say Arteta won’t be tempted to throw a curveball and revert to a version of last year’s model?
Indeed, there is growing interest around the possibility that Arteta might try to cram Odegaard, Eze and Myles Lewis-Skelly into the same midfield, alongside Declan Rice – and at the expense of the deep-lying attacking midfielder.
Martín Zubimendi, who has been a fixture for much of the season and whose signing was deemed crucial last summer. That’s right: the same Lewis-Skelly who is still just 19 and emerged last year as a more than competent left-back before virtually disappearing until a month ago, only to reappear as a midfielder.
It is just one of the many options available to Arteta and is a stark contrast to PSG. We may not know the ‘how’ of Luis Enrique’s vision for Saturday – as we saw against Bayern, they are also more than capable of turning things around – but we know the ‘who’.

Assuming Achraf Hakimi is fit enough to start, the starting XI is ready. Not so with Arsenal. In addition to the midfield scenario above, Arteta has choices to make both at left-back (the more athletic Piero Hincapié, or the more pass-oriented Riccardo Calafiori?) and in attack: do you choose the wrecking ball that is Viktor Gyökeres or the more rounded Kai Havertz who, as superstition is part of football even at the highest level, has already scored a Champions League winner in a final?