Arsenal v PSG is a battle of contrasts, with a much deeper significance

It further fosters the sense of a truly complete team, arguably the best that Europe has seen since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona when performing at their top level.

There are of course caveats. PSG benefit from all of the advantages of being a Qatari sportswashing project, at the same time that power has trampled Ligue 1.

The new darlings of the competition do bring darker discussions.

PSG would not just become the first side since Real Madrid in 2018 to retain the trophy, and just the second in the Champions League era.

Luis Enrique’s PSG could emulate the Real Madrid side that became the first in the modern era to defend the Champions League (AP)

They would ensure a state-owned club has won the competition for the third time in four years, a development that would be all the more conspicuous when the conflict in Iran has raised questions about future strategies from such Gulf autocracies. There’s an extra layer to this given that Viktor Orban - characterised as “a competitive authoritarian” - is no longer the premier of Hungary, having been voted out weeks before this prestige fixture in Budapest he had long desired.

Such concerns, as has been said before, reflect a lot about football in 2026.

Arsenal, themselves owned by a classic US billionaire capitalist, find both of these state-owned clubs - PSG and Manchester City - standing in their way in the season’s two major trophies.

If Mikel Arteta’s side were to win the league, it would make this final the first meeting between domestic champions since 2020.

Arsenal and PSG met in last season’s semi-finals, with the Gunners now bidding for ‘revenge’ in Budapest (Adam Davy/PA Wire)

That prospect does speak to something else about this final. It might end up a rare final that is definitively between the best teams in Europe. That arguably hasn’t been seen since 2020 either, and before that you probably have to go back to 2014 or 2009.

There’s even the symmetry of how Arsenal were undeniably the best team of the first half of the season, given how they finished top of the group stage, and PSG again the best team of the second half and the knock-outs.

The most pertinent question, however, is whether Arsenal can really be as good as PSG for the final - or whether they even need to be.

The football both sides play also plays into many other contrasts.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s direct dribbling and speed are emblematic of how PSG want to play (Getty)

While PSG are self-assuredly looking to perpetuate their dominance and win a second Champions League, Arsenal are striving to finally claim their first, and properly begin their own era.

Duly, Luis Enrique’s side constantly look like they are expanding the pitch, while Arsenal play within the margins.

That contrast from the two semi-finals is set to become even more acute.

Stellar attack against collective structure; imagination against order.

The reality of it is unlikely to be quite so simple, as Enrique would himself warn.

After the entire European season seemed to be going the same way as a coruscating Kvicha Kvaratshkelia run - surely a contender for Ballon d’Or - how susceptible are PSG to one Gabriel Magalhaes set-piece header settling it?

Gabriel, meanwhile, sums up Arsenal’s strength in defence and from set-pieces, which could make the difference in a one-off game against PSG (Getty)

Or, after a season when Arteta’s side constantly played on the line, will PSG blow them off it.

Or is this already a new Arsenal, elevated to the Champions League final and consequently having had a weight lifted?

The temptation will be to cast this as some kind of battle for the soul of football given the contrasting styles but the wider context makes it a lot more complicated than that.

In the most immediate and simple sense, it is an enticing match between arguably Europe’s two best sides.

The hope is it leads to the final the competition has long been due.