Luis Enrique has insisted Paris Saint-Germain’s motivation to retain their Champions League title is greater than Arsenal’s quest to be crowned European champions for the first time.
PSG demolished Inter 5-0 in last year’s final in Munich and are strong favourites for Saturday’s showdown at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. Arsenal have reached this stage for the first time since 2006, when they lost 2-1 to Barcelona in Paris, and Arteta caused a stir in the week when he said: “We will be European champions on Saturday.”
Luis Enrique refused to say if that declaration has provided his players with extra motivation but did say that the chance to become only the second team in the Champions League era to retain their title, after Real Madrid, and ninth in total is driving his players. “Yes, it is powerful,” said the Spaniard of Arsenal’s desire to win a first title. “But do you know how powerful trying to win the second one in a row is? It’s bigger. So we’re ahead. I don’t think there’s any better motivation than winning the Champions League. We will see tomorrow who is better – we both won our respective leagues and I’m going to focus on what is positive for my team. So that we can show the best of ourselves.
“It’s a source of motivation for us. We have already gone down in the history books as one of the best teams in Europe. But that’s what we’re looking for. You never know when you’re going to be back in the Champions League final and you have to make the most of it.”
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Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain will face each other for the eighth time in all competitions, with their head-to-head record even at two wins each, plus three draws. PSG have won the last two encounters: both legs of last season’s semi-final.
The Gunners are undefeated in this season’s Champions League, winning all eight games during the league phase, then drawing three and winning three of their six legs in the knockout rounds. PSG lost twice during the league phase before going undefeated in their six knockout fixtures, a run that included four victories against English opposition: two against Chelsea in the last 16 and two against Liverpool in the quarter-finals.
This will be the first major European final between clubs from France and England and the fourth European Cup final between clubs from two different capital cities, after Benfica v Real Madrid (1962), Real Madrid v Partizan Belgrade (1966) and Ajax v Panathinaikos (1971).
Arsenal are seeking to become the seventh English club to win the European Cup after Manchester United, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Manchester City, and aiming to win a third European trophy after the Fairs Cup in 1970 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994.
An Arsenal victory would mean English clubs claiming every major European trophy this season, after Aston Villa’s victory in the Europa League and Crystal Palace’s success in the Conference League. The last time English clubs had a clean sweep of European honours in a single season was in 2018-19, when Liverpool won the Champions League and Chelsea won the Europa League.
Budapest is hosting a Champions League final for the first time. The city, and the Puskas Arena specifically, hosted the 2023 Europa League final between Sevilla and Roma and the 2020 Super Cup between Bayern Munich and Sevilla.
Tonight’s match will be the first Champions League final not broadcast free-to-air in the UK, after TNT Sports decided to make it available to subscribers only. This led to Keir Starmer, the prime minster and Arsenal fan, writing to the broadcaster, urging them to reconsider their decision. As yet, TNT has not backed down.
Ousmane Dembélé and Achraf Hakimi have been included in PSG’s squad for the final after recovering from injury, with Luis Enrique – who has won 11 of the 12 finals he has contested as a manager – expected to select 10 of the team that started in Munich 12 months ago. Dembélé’s participation was in doubt due to a calf injury but the France forward said he was never worried about missing the final and warned that PSG are itching to finish the job.
“We’re a young squad who are highly ambitious and we don’t want to sit on our laurels,” he said. “We know that it would be something historic if we can pull it off. If we want to be great players then these are the trophies that we need to be winning time and again.”