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

The teams for the final in Budapest are set.

We look at how they got there and the factors that could determine the champion

Destination Budapest, where Paris Saint-Germain will attempt to be the first club apart from Real Madrid to win two consecutive European Cups since Milan in 1990.

Vincent Kompany’s promise of “more” from Bayern Munich after a nine-goal first leg https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/06/bayern-psg-champions-league-semi-final-second-leg-match-report">did not materialise.

PSG offered a different proposition in Wednesday’s second leg; they put on a performance of defensive discipline, with their attacking players committed to closing down their opponents.

Luis Enrique’s team never allowed the tie to spin from their control even if there were 33 shots in Munich compared to 22 in Paris.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia plays like an old-style winger, and set up Ousmane Dembélé’s goal, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/06/khvicha-kvaratskhelia-paris-saint-germain-psg-champions-league-bayern-munich-luis-enrique">but he is also thoroughly modern in the way he presses hard and high.

Bayern found space at a premium until Harry Kane’s late goal.

Luis Enrique’s team is much the same as last season’s, sticking to the same formula.

They are a year older but still flush with youth.

The PSG project took many years and billions of euros to hit pay dirt but is now delivering the success that was dreamed of after the Qatari takeover in 2011.