Champions League holders PSG will look to retain the most sought-after trophy on the continent when they take on an Arsenal side seeking to win the competition for the first time in their history.
READ: PSG vs Arsenal predictions, stats, tips & odds
Budapest’s Puskas Arena (Saturday, 5pm) will play host to the first ever major European final between clubs from France and England, with both PSG and Arsenal heading into the game as champions of their respective countries.
Read on for our jam-packed stat pack ahead of Saturday’s showdown:
Stats you might see
Snapshot stats
The head-to-head battle is evenly split with two wins each, plus three draws. However, PSG won both semi-final legs against Arsenal last year and have a dominant recent record against English clubs (more on that shortly).
Scoring the first goal could prove pivotal given that the team that has opened the scoring has gone on to win each of the last 11 Champions League finals.
This will be the first time that two Spanish managers have locked horns in a final and only the fourth instance of two fellow countrymen going head-to-head for the trophy.
Whatever the outcome of the match, Spain will have produced the most number of trophies from a country with 14 (currently level on 13 with Italy). Six Spanish managers account for those 13 wins to date, with eight – soon to be nine – of those wins coming in the 21st century. In contrast, Joe Fagan remains the last English manager to win the competition back in 1984.
PSG stats
Double-double?
PSG are the first French club to reach back-to-back Champions League finals and the first club from any country to do so since Liverpool in 2018 and 2019.
PSG are now chasing their 59th official trophy and have the chance to become only the second club in the Champions League era to successfully defend the trophy, after Real Madrid won three in a row between 2016 and 2018.
PSG, having already retained the Ligue 1 title, could become the first club since Ajax in 1972 and 1973 to win the domestic title and European Cup/Champions League double in consecutive seasons. Real Madrid (1957 and 1958) were the first to achieve this feat.
vs English
PSG head into the final with a favourable recent record against English opposition, having won each of their last five knockout ties against Premier League clubs, including last season’s semi-final triumph over Arsenal. More broadly, the Parisians are unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League knockout matches, winning nine of them.
Goal rush
The reigning champions have also been the competition’s most prolific goal scorers. Their current tally of 44 goals is just one shy of Barcelona’s single-season Champions League record of 45 set in 1999-2000 – two PSG goals in the final would therefore create a new record. They also lead the competition for total shots (298) and shots on target (114).
Enrique’s hat-trick
Luis Enrique can become only the fifth manager to win 3+ Champions League trophies, joining Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane, and Bob Paisley on three, while Carlo Ancelotti leads the way on five.
Enrique has a 100% record in Champions League finals, having lifted the trophy with Barcelona in 2015 and PSG last year, and boasts a 64% win rate in the competition, which is the best of any manager to oversee 50+ games.
If successful, Enrique would become the second Spanish manager to win back-to-back European Cup/Champions League trophies after Jose Villalonga did so with Real Madrid in 1955/56 and 1956/57.
Kvaratskhelia’s dazzling run
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been in sensational form this season, particularly in the Champions League where he has 16 goal involvements in 15 matches. His return of 10 goals is bettered only by Kylian Mbappe (15) and Harry Kane (14), while he has the joint most assists (six), alongside his teammate Achraf Hakimi (6), and has accrued the third most shots (49).
The Georgian wizard has been particularly devastating since the league phase, contributing to 10 goals in the knockouts. He can now extend his own Champions League record (currently seven) of scoring or assisting in eight consecutive knockout-stage appearances within a single campaign.
Vitinha’s pass masterclass
Vitinha has been the metronome of PSG’s midfield throughout this Champions League campaign. The Portuguese star has completed a staggering 1,448 passes in the competition – more than 300 clear of any other player – while maintaining an elite pass completion rate of 93.24%. He also leads the tournament for completed final-third passes with 365.
Should Vitinha complete 100+ passes against Arsenal in the final, it would mark the ninth time he has reached that milestone in this season’s competition. Only Xavi in 2010-11 has achieved that feat in a single campaign since Opta began recording Champions League data in 2003-04
Scoring in Champions League finals
PSG thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 in last season’s final thanks to goals from Achraf Hakimi, Desire Doue (2), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Senny Mayulu.
Each of those four players now has the opportunity to join an exclusive group of just eight players who have scored in two separate Champions League finals. Beyond that, they could also make history by becoming the first players ever to score in Champions League finals in back-to-back seasons, a feat no individual has achieved in the competition’s modern era.
Arsenal stats
England’s clean sweep
Arsenal now carry English football’s hopes of completing a historic clean sweep across UEFA’s three major competitions after Aston Villa lifted the Europa League and Crystal Palace won the Conference League. No country has ever supplied the winners of all three competitions in the same season.
English clubs have previously completed the European Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League double in the same campaign on three occasions – 1980-81, 1983-84, and 2018-19 – while the Champions League and Conference League pairing was achieved in 2022-23.
Joining the party
For Arsenal, this final represents the chance to finally win Europe’s biggest prize for the first time in their history after defeat to Barcelona in the 2006 final. Victory would make the Gunners the 25th different club to win the competition, and the third first-time winner in the last four seasons.
They would also become the seventh English club to lift the trophy after Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City – more different winners than any other nation has produced.
Capital gains
Success would also see London become the first capital city ever to provide two European Cup/Champions League winners following Chelsea’s two triumphs, while joining Milan and Manchester as the only cities with multiple winning clubs.
Arsenal currently hold the unwanted record for most matches played in the competition without ever winning it (225). The North London side have also lost each of their last four major European finals: the 1995 Cup Winners’ Cup, 2000 UEFA Cup, 2006 Champions League, and 2019 Europa League.
Unbeaten run
Mikel Arteta’s side head into the final unbeaten in Europe this season, putting together a club-record 14-match run (W11 D3). Another victory would make Arsenal the 12th club – and fifth English side – to win the European Cup/Champions League without losing a single game.
Historic double
The Gunners are also chasing a famous domestic and European double. Should they prevail, they would become just the fourth English club to win both the top-flight title and the European Cup/Champions League in the same season after Liverpool (1976-77, 1983-84), Man United (1998-99, 2007-08), and Man City (2022-23).
Mikel Arteta stats
Mikel Arteta is the fourth Spanish coach to reach a Champions League final with a non-Spanish team after Rafa Benítez (Liverpool), Pep Guardiola (Man City), and Luis Enrique (PSG).
Arteta could become the seventh Spanish manager to win the competition and third of his countrymen in the last four years after Guardiola (Man City, 2023) and Enrique (PSG, 2025).
Raya’s wall
PSG may boast this season’s most free-scoring attack, but they are coming up against a resolute and difficult to beat Arsenal side, who are unbeaten in 14 games, kept a competition-high nine clean sheets, and are the only side yet to concede a goal from open play since the league phase (six matches).
David Raya, who has won three straight Premier League Golden Boot awards, can create history by becoming the first goalkeeper to record 10 clean sheets in a single campaign in the competition.
Saka’s French Connection
Bukayo Saka has eight goal involvements in six matches against French sides in the Champions League, scoring five goals and registering three assists, which includes two goals in three games against PSG.
Teenage kicks
If Myles Lewis-Skelly (19 years 246 days) features in the final, the Arsenal teenager will become just the second English player ever to reach 20 Champions League appearances before turning 20, after Jude Bellingham (19 years 104 days).
Martinelli and Gyokeres chasing Henry
Viktor Gyokeres (5 goals) and Gabriel Martinelli (6) are chasing down Thierry Henry’s Arsenal record of seven goals in a Champions League season (2001/02 & 2002/03).
Duel final history
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus can join Frank Gray (Nottingham Forest & Leeds United) and Ashley Cole (Arsenal & Chelsea) as the only players to play for two different England clubs in a European Cup/Champions League final.
Havertz and Jesus both played in the 2021 Champions League final for Chelsea and Man City respectively, with Havertz scoring the only goal of the game for Thomas Tuchels’ Blues.
