It was the long-awaited poster for the end of the season. This Saturday, PSG had a date with its history by playing its second consecutive Champions League final. Opposite, Arsenal, the best defense in Europe and who finally finished champion of England after an XXL season. It was therefore necessary to finish in style by winning the first C1 in its history. Beyond two attractive teams, this match should also be an opposition between two outstanding tacticians with very different styles. Luis Enrique, who advocates total football, had to succeed in shaking up the ironclad defensive discipline of Mikel Arteta. And for that, he could count on his typical team with the returns of Hakimi and Dembélé in the starting lineup. PSG presented itself with the same eleven as in the last final against Inter, with the exception of Safonov who therefore replaced Donnarumma, who had left for City.
Opposite, Arteta also lined up his typical eleven and did without Gyökeres on the attacking front in favor of Kai Havertz. The German international, sole scorer in the C1 final with Chelsea in 2021, wanted to do it again and disrupt the Marquinhos-Pacho duo. This is what he managed to do from the start of the match. After a clearance from Marquinhos directly on Trossard, Havertz went off alone against Safonov and lit the cage at the near post. A goal which did not suit PSG’s business, obviously, with a Gunners team which was going to be able to play its game. Dominant, the Parisians were absolutely unable to disrupt the English block which was impassable. Usually twirling on his left side, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was uninspired, just like Ousmane Dembélé who was almost weaned from balls. Arsenal had decided to leave the leather to Paris, which was trying as best it could to get around the opposing block. In vain. Above all, with each Parisian attempt to set the pace and ignite the match, the Gunners managed to break the rhythm, gaining time with a few anti-play gestures which increasingly frustrated Achraf Hakimi’s teammates. especially since the referee of the match, who could also have punished a handball in the area by Saka with a penalty, did not seem to put things in order on this subject.
PSG makes history
At halftime, the Parisians were still one goal behind. The attempt before the break by Fabián Ruiz (40th) seemed to be the only opportunity to be had. On the other side, on his second dangerous ball and without a good intervention from Marquinhos, Havertz did not go far from the break goal. Proof of the nature of this meeting, after the first act, Arsenal had only completed 69 passes. The lowest total for a C1 final since Opta analyzed the competition. We therefore had to put our foot on the accelerator on the Parisian side after returning from the locker room. Facing a disciplined English team, PSG hoped to rely on fatigue to push for mistakes and take advantage of a few spaces. And by gradually expanding the Arsenal block, the Parisians managed to regain their football in a few sequences. It was also enough to equalize by pushing Hincapié to make a mistake. After a one-two between Kvara and Dembélé, the Spanish defender clumsily tackled the Georgian. Logical penalty that Dembélé transformed for the equalizer (1-1, 65th). A goal which, at the same time, made the match much more open with an overmotivated Parisian team and a Gunners team now obliged to discover itself to hope to win this final. This was illustrated with spaces on both sides which allowed the wingers to get forward. And if Saka tried his luck several times from afar, it was Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who did not go far from the decisive goal.
After Arsenal lost a high ball, the Georgian went alone on goal and his left shot ended up hitting Raya’s post (77th). The Spanish goalkeeper made an XXL intervention a few minutes later in front of Barcola who had just overtaken Saliba from 40 meters (85th). Enough to allow his team to stay alive and go into extra time since Barcola missed another clear opportunity in added time (90th + 6). The two teams went into overtime and PSG had to do without Ousmane Dembélé, who came out after severe cramps and was unable to continue the game. But in a meeting with such high stakes, both teams seemed to fear being punished. And if Mikel Arteta completely changed his attack line to weigh on the Parisian defense, Arsenal did not manage to really win the match. And the choppy end to the match made it impossible to have an outcome after 120 minutes. It was therefore necessary to decide between them during the penalty shootout. And in this little game, it is PSG who wins the session by winning (1-1, 4-3 on the tabs) during the session despite the failure of Nuno Mendes. PSG achieves back-to-back and writes Champions League history by winning its second star.
