Champions League review: a punch for Arteta, and are PSG and Arsenal really that different?

**Player of the week**

**Marquinhos** has been at PSG since 2013, when he joined the club as a teenager. Previously the junior partner to Thiago Silva, Marquinhos embodied the defensive effort in Munich, blunting the threat of Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz with his organisation. Willian Pacho acted as able lieutenant while Warren Zaïre-Emery was nursed through as a stand-in right back. “Tonight we showed that we also know how to defend, how to battle like crazy,” Marquinhos said after the match.

**They said it**

*“We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games which … It’s never an excuse for everything but it matters. If we look at both legs probably too much went against us”* – Kompany and Bayern were not happy with the refereeing across their semi-final. Two handball calls were crucial, Nuno Mendes escaped a second yellow card and João Neves clearly handled in his own box. The second was ruled out because handball is not handball when a ball is played by a teammate. Who knew?

**The pundit’s chair**

*“If I was running down the side, I’d make sure I actually topped him. I’d tackle the ball and tackle him at the same time”* – Former Arsenal player Stewart Robson serves a piping-hot take on Arteta’s touchline antics after ESPN host Dan Thomas asks: “At what stage, as the opposition coach, do you want to punch Arteta in the face? How much does that annoy you?”

**Looking ahead**

PSG toughing out Bayern on Wednesday gives the lie to the idea that the final will be a meeting of English grit against a Gallic *tout pour l’attaque*. Both managers seek control in different forms. There are, though, echoes of the 2006 final for Arsenal, when they faced a free-flowing Barcelona team of talents, led by Ronaldinho, the Dembélé of his day. Gunners fans grimace when recalling Jens Lehmann’s early red card, and the crucial role played by Barcelona supersubs Henrik Larsson and Juliano Belletti. Budapest will hold the fourth final between clubs from European capital cities after Benfica v Real Madrid in 1962, Real Madrid v Partizan Belgrade in 1966 and Ajax v Panathinaikos in 1971. Arsenal can right the myriad wrongs that have haunted them. London’s biggest club in historic terms have had to watch on as arriviste Chelsea collected the Champions League twice. The competition was an annual disappointment in the Arsène Wenger years. Revenge is in the air, too. Last season it was PSG who knocked out Arsenal in the semi-finals.