Paris and Arsenal meet in the UEFA Champions League final in Budapest on 30 May.

Only nine teams have completed an unbeaten Champions League campaign. Arsenal are now one game from becoming the next. Standing in their way are Paris, reigning champions and the first holders to reach the final since Real Madrid in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

The Puskás Aréna showpiece revisits last season’s semi-final, when Luis Enrique’s side won both legs to defeat Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate en route to dismantling Inter 5-0 in the final to lift the trophy for the first time. Yet across the clubs’ five meetings in this competition, those remain Paris’ only victories, Arsenal winning in the league phase last season and the sides twice drawing in 2016/17.

Their paths to Budapest have unfolded with contrasting rhythms. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have built their run on defensive control, keeping nine clean sheets and conceding just four goals in the league phase. Notable victories over Atleti, Bayern München and Inter were followed by tighter knockout encounters against Leverkusen, Sporting CP and Atleti again.

Paris, meanwhile, have surged through with attacking freedom. Their 44 goals leave them one shy of Barcelona’s 1999/2000 all-time single-season record, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at the heart of that momentum. Industrious and unpredictable, the Georgian has contributed ten goals and six assists across the campaign – seven of those strikes coming in the knockouts as he hits top form.

After explosive victories against Atalanta, Leverkusen, Barcelona and Tottenham earlier in the campaign, Paris found another gear in the knockouts, brushing aside Chelsea and Liverpool before an enthralling modern-classic semi-final against Bayern München.

Arsenal’s rise under Arteta has been gradual but significant – quarter-finals in 2023/24, semi-finals in 2024/25 and now a first final for the club since 2005/06. For Arsenal, victory would cap an historic campaign and bring the trophy to north London for the first time, while for Paris it would secure a second European crown, establish them as the first French club to claim back-to-back titles and further cement Luis Enrique’s legacy at the club.

Possible line-ups

Paris: Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Zaïre-Emery, Vitinha, João Neves; Doué, Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia

• Achraf Hakimi (thigh) was the biggest doubt for the holders, having not featured since the semi-final first leg against Bayern, but Luis Enrique said both he and Nuno Mendes were available in Friday’s press conference. Ousmane Dembélé was replaced during the first half of Paris’ final league game but he said on Friday that he feels “100% ready” to play.

Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Ødegaard; Saka, Gyökeres, Trossard

• Noni Madueke came off with a hamstring injury towards the end of Arsenal’s final league game at Crystal Palace but Mikel Arteta said in Friday’s press conference that he would be fit for the final. Jurriën Timber, out since March with a groin issue, is also available and expected to get the nod over Cristhian Mosquera but defender Ben White is definitely out after suffering a serious knee injury at West Ham on 10 May.

Form guide

Paris

Form: LWWDDW (most recent first)
Latest: Paris FC 2-1 Paris, 17/05, French Ligue 1

Arsenal

Form: WWWWWD
Latest: Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal, 24/05, English Premier League

Views from the camps

Ousmane Dembélé, Paris forward: “We’re savouring these moments. We’ve got a young group, a great group who want to win trophies. We’re hungry to win everything, whether that’s the Champions League, the league or domestic titles. If you want to be at the very top, you have to win these sort of trophies multiple times.”

Marquinhos, Paris captain: “It’s always important to be motivated. Again this year, we’ve shown that. These are key moments. Once you win it, once you taste that success, you have so much desire to re-experience it. The emotion, the feeling in the dressing room; we’re competitors.”

Luis Enrique, Paris coach: “I’ve loved all the games we’ve played in the competition this season. We have shown, in those eight knockout games particularly, how good a side we are. We needed to suffer in those games, but we showed what sort of a side we are. We have to enjoy playing these kind of games, because you never know when you’re going to experience these sort of occasions again.”

Martin Ødegaard, Arsenal midfielder: “It’s something special that we can achieve. Twenty-two years since we [previously] won the Premier League, now we want to make more history. When you taste lifting a trophy, you want to do it again. It would mean so much to everyone, so we’re looking forward to the game.”

Bukayo Saka, Arsenal winger: “We’ve had a week to recover and prepare. The game won’t be decided by minutes – it will be decided by moments. Mikel [Arteta] made it clear his mission was to bring the club back to where it belongs. I’m proud we’ve achieved that. It’s been a long journey with some disappointments along the way. But we’ve picked each other up and gone again.”

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal coach: “The preparation has been really, really good, focused [and] positive. We are here because we have earned the right to be here in the manner that we have played and performed in the competition. Tomorrow on that field we’re going to have to earn the right to go and win the trophy.”

Reporter’s view

Alex Clementson, Paris reporter
“Once is historic, twice is legendary,” read a banner unfurled by the club’s supporters during an in-house friendly over the weekend and the Budapest finale presents Paris with the opportunity to immortalise themselves among the pantheon of greats. With 23 goals netted during this season’s knockout phase and 44 overall, their trademark attacking swagger shows no signs of relenting. The way they stifled Bayern defensively during the semi-final second leg, however, showed their steelier edge. Marry those two elements together on Saturday and Paris may well become the first side since Real Madrid to retain their Champions League crown.

Joe Terry, Arsenal reporter
It’s perhaps an oversimplification to paint this season’s Champions League final as Paris’ attack versus Arsenal’s defence, but the Gunners are probably the best equipped to shackle the Parisians’ devastating attack. The core of Arsenal’s defensive unit – the trio of David Raya, William Saliba and Gabriel – have overseen the fewest goals conceded in both their triumphant Premier League campaign and on their way to the Budapest showpiece. The players will be riding high after celebrating their first league title in 22 years and will back themselves from the position of underdogs, particularly since they will have learned from last season’s semi-final loss against the same opposition. That was a close tie which Paris deserved to win, but Arsenal have made a huge stride forward since.