Arsenal will play their 63rd and final game of the 2025/26 season on Saturday evening (May 30th), and it will no doubt be the biggest game that they have played in their history.
20 years ago in Paris, the Gunners were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona, despite having led with ten men thanks to a header from Sol Campbell. It was a result that marked the end of the Arsenal era of the Invincibles, and despite having waited 22 years, they lifted the Premier League trophy aloft at Selhurst Park last Sunday, May 24th.
Two decades on from Paris, Arsenal face the dominant force of the French capital, PSG, looking to complete a historic double and set themselves up as one of the great teams in the club's history, but how could they win the final?
Relying on their strong defence
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Arsenal's defence has played a big role in getting them to the final.
With nine clean sheets in 14 games, they are just one off tying the competition record, set by the Arsenal team that made it to Paris in 2006, and matched by Real Madrid in the 15/16 season.
A clean sheet in the final would also propel David Raya to the outright record of most Champions League clean sheets in a season.
Arsenal has also conceded just two goals in its last seven games, keeping five clean sheets in the process. With Julian Alvarez's equaliser in the first leg of the semi-final against Atletico, and Jean-Philippe Mateta's header for Crystal Palace in a 2-1 final day win, those being the only times the backline has been beaten since the defeat to Manchester City.
Set piece firepower
Arsenal will have a significant height advantage over PSG when it comes to set-pieces, though Joao Neves has proven that he can be a danger for the Parisians, particularly with his header against Bayern Munich.
In recent weeks, the Gunners have shown a variance in routines, the short corner was a strong weapon against Newcastle when Eberechi Eze fired the winning goal into the top corner in the opening 10 minutes, though the Gunners also showed their threat with the deliveries from Bukayo Saka, and Declan Rice, Saka's corner being knocked home by Kai Havertz for a 1-0 win over Burnley that was enough to win the Premier League title.
Decisions in the midfield and attack
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Mikel Arteta has a range of big tactical decisions to make.
Starting in midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly has been revolutionary for the Gunners' season in recent weeks, and Arteta made a big call in the semi-final to play Lewis-Skelly over Martín Zubimendi. The young midfielder could be a better call in terms of ball progression and driving power in the midfield, which is something that Arsenal will need against this PSG team in order to exploit the spaces that may open up if Luis Enrique's side adopts a man-to-man press.
Zubimendi has been a revolution in the midfield for Arsenal this season, but has needed a break in recent weeks. He also thrives in these big occasions, as he did in the second half of the UEFA Euro 2024 final for Spain against England.
The other midfield decision is whether Eze continues in the number 10 role or the captain, Martin Ødegaard, comes back into the side. It is an interesting dilemma because Eze has shown over his career that he thrives in big moment games like this, and Ødegaard's best performances this season in Newcastle (A) and West Ham (A) have come off the bench.
Eze could also start at left wing, but the partnership on that side of Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard is something that Arsenal will want to target, in particular because of the spaces left behind by Achraf Hakimi.
Centre forward is also a huge call, Viktor Gyökeres could play a huge role in running the channels, and pulling either William Pacho or Marquinhos wider, while Havertz's aerial ability could prove important if the Gunners choose to go long, and try to beat the PSG press. The German has also scored in a UCL Final before, netting the winner for Chelsea against Manchester City in 2021.