Two of the most consistent teams in Europe, PSG and Arsenal, are going to take each other on at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest tonight for the coveted Champions League title.
The Parisians are looking to successfully defend their title, whereas the Gunners are once again standing on the verge of winning the elite European competition for the first time in their history.
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The defending champions have certainly been an unstoppable force in Europe this season, as they have scored 44 goals in this season’s UCL, and seemingly, the Parisians will now face the immovable object in the form of the side from London, as the Gunners have only conceded six goals and kept nine clean sheets in the competition this season.
Apparently, Paris and Arsenal met in the semi-finals last season, with PSG winning the tie 3-1 on aggregate and then going on to thrash Inter Milan 5-0 in the final in Munich.
But certainly, this is not the same Arsenal side that Marquinhos and his men defeated during the 2024-25 campaign, as the Gunners will go into the final as the newly crowned Premier League champions after a gap of 22 long years.
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As a result, the PSG captain definitely doesn’t intend to be complacent before heading down the tunnel, as Marquinhos has some important pieces of advice for his teammates before the much-awaited final.
The Brazilian center-back addressed the media during the pre-match conference, saying (h/t GOAL), “We’ve played them a few times over the last few years, and we know what their strengths are. We know how difficult it is to face this Arsenal team. We can’t know what will happen during the match, and what could be the deciding moment. We need to be ready for anything.”
As all finals are, this too will be rather unpredictable as both teams have done exceptionally well this campaign and now with the recent injury boost of Achraf Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele, PSG are most likely to field an almost similar squad to the one which Luis Enrique decided to go with last season’s final, barring goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who left for Manchester City last year, as Matvey Safonov will take his place tonight.
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On the other hand, the Gunners will be making a few changes to their side from last season’s semifinal, with the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal’s new addition in the attack, and Gabriel, who missed out on last season’s encounter due to injury, and both players will like to make their presence felt tonight against the defending champions.
Certainly, PSG will not have it easy at the Puskas Stadium tonight, but Enrique and the Parisians are certainly not taking it lightly, as mentioned by their captain.
