Arsenal must keep things boring against PSG

It is a Champions League Final worthy of the name.

For just the 10th time in its 34 installments, Europe’s highest profile club competition has come down to a pair of domestic title winners: Arsenal of England and Paris Saint-Germain of France. Actual ‘Champions,’ in other words.

And when the match kicks off in Budapest (Saturday, 11:00 a.m., DAZN and CBS), it will become only the fourth Final to feature clubs from national capitals and the first in 55 years. That last was in the old European Cup in 1971, when Ajax of Amsterdam beat Panathinaikos of Greece.

Then there’s the fact the current holder has returned in a bid to go back-to-back, something only Real Madrid has achieved since the 1992 tournament re-brand. It was a year ago, less a day, that PSG throttled Inter Milan to win its first Champions League.

Remarkably, head coach Luis Enrique should be able to field nearly the same XI that eased to that 5-0 triumph in Munich.

If right-back Aschraf Hakimi can overcome a thigh injury – he’ll be among the squad regardless – the entire PSG outfield will be identical to the one that lined up to face the Nerazzurri. Only the goalkeeper will be different, with Matvey Safonov having replaced the departed Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Les Parisiens have managed this largely through rotation, with Enrique preserving certain players, such as captain Marquinhos, for the continental campaign while using others in the French one. That Ligue 1 is a rather more straightforward proposition than the Premier League is hardly a mystery, and PSG has used the lighter schedule to its advantage.

The club is also enjoying a period of stability across the board. With its major transfers having been conducted 18-24 months ago — and predominantly netting younger players — it has simply allowed the group to mature together, tinkering only at the edges.

Crucially, the midfield trio of Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha and João Neves has now played two full seasons mostly uninterrupted, and with each member offering something a bit different it can adjust to most in-game situations with a knowing glance or a nod.

Whether by the freshness of a squad, the statistics or the levels of both individual and combined talents, PSG measures better than its Saturday opponents and will expect to convert that superiority into a trophy lift at Puskás Aréna.

Arsenal, however, knows from experience that preparation, metrics and ability do not necessarily translate into success in one-off encounters on the biggest of stages.

Twenty years ago, when the Gunners made their only other Champions League Final appearance, they couldn’t possibly have accounted for goalkeeper Jens Lehmann’s early ejection against Barcelona.

Call it a rash decision, call it rotten luck; but either way the match was defined by that moment in the 18th minute.

Defender Sol Campbell actually put the 10 men in front before the interval, and Thierry Henry had multiple chances to extend the lead before Barca’s numerical advantage finally paid off. Samuel Eto’o equalized in the 76th minute, and Juliano Belletti bagged the winner in the 80th.

This is all to say that the biggest of matches can swing on a single incident, and the London outfit could probably do with one of those working to its favour in Budapest.

Even so, it will give itself its best chance at a first Champions League triumph by unapologetically playing to its strengths. It has to make the 90 minutes (and possibly more) as boring as possible.

Arsenal was able to end a 22-year title drought by going on multiple runs in which it conceded little and entertained few.

In the first, between the end of September and start of November, it scored a modest eight goals in five matches, but won them all because it allowed only one. In the second — another five-game stretch, between December and January — it earned a pair of 2-1 wins and another 1-0 victory.

Finally, in the last five matches of the season, it prevailed 1-0 on three occasions and 2-1 on another. In the knockout phase of the Champions League, it has scored one goal or fewer in five games out of six.

The airtight centre-back partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães can largely be credited for Arsenal’s impressive defensive record this season, and Declan Rice has largely kept things tidy in the middle of the park.

But the Gunners have yet to face an attack as menacing as PSG’s. Conversely, the French champion has yet to face a defence as stingy as Arsenal’s. Ultimately, both are the best at what they do.

Previous Finals may have had more compelling narratives, like an underdog story or redemptive opportunity. What this one offers is a match-up that’s truly best on best.

It is winner against winner, capital versus capital. And for a competition whose anthem sings “Ce sont les meilleures équipes” and “These are the champions,” it is the very definition of a Champions League Final.

jerradpeters@proton.me

@jerradpeters.bsky.social