Arsenal reached their second ever Champions League final on Tuesday, beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate after Bukayo Saka’s precise finish on the stroke of half-time at the Emirates Stadium pushed them through.
The scoreline proved the margin. Saka’s strike, the decisive goal in a tense second-leg tie, booked Arsenal a date in Budapest on May 30 and ended Atletico’s run. The win moves Arsenal into a European showpiece for only the second time in the club’s history.
That final, however, will not be decided until the other semi-final finishes: Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich meet with the winner set to be Arsenal’s opponent. PSG took a 5-4 lead in the first leg in Paris last week, leaving the tie finely balanced and the identity of Arsenal’s opponent uncertain for now.
The match-up matters beyond the trophy. Arsenal have recent memory of both potential opponents. Earlier this season they beat Bayern Munich 3-1 in north London; two seasons ago Bayern knocked Arsenal out at the quarter-final stage over two legs, 3-2 on aggregate. PSG, by contrast, eliminated Arsenal in last season’s semi-final by 3-1 on aggregate and went on to win the final 5-0 against Inter Milan.
Kit selection has become an immediate headline-level detail. UEFA has designated Arsenal as the away team for the final, which opens a practical choice: the club could wear its blue zig-zag away kit or the white and burgundy third kit. Organizers expect that if PSG progress, Arsenal will wear their home shirt for the final; if Bayern reach the final, Arsenal are expected to don the blue away kit. Those permutations echo last season, when Arsenal wore their red and white home kit in both legs against PSG, and a reminder that Bayern wore a black away kit at the Emirates when the sides met in November.
There is a human edge to the draw and the talk that follows. When asked which opponent he would prefer, Saka shrugged off the question and declined to pick a polished soundbite, saying he would not give a media-trained answer and that, deep down, the players know who they would want to face. His refusal to be drawn underlines the immediate focus: preparation for a final rather than punditry about an opponent.
That reluctance to choose is mirrored by the former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, who said he would like to see Bayern Munich in the final, noting Arsenal have already beaten them 3-1 this season and suggesting that history might give his old club a better chance. Keown also warned that PSG are exceptional in the way they play and pointed to the similar philosophies of the two managers as a complicating factor.
The remaining semi-final will settle more than bragging rights: it will determine tactical match-ups, which shirts the players will wear on May 30, and the psychological ledger between Arsenal and a side they have met twice in the past year. If PSG reach the final, Arsenal’s recent defeat to them in last season’s semi-final and PSG’s subsequent 5-0 final win over Inter Milan will hang over preparations. If Bayern go through, Arsenal can point to the 3-1 win in north London earlier this season and to older wounds from the 3-2 quarter-final exit two seasons ago.
For now the story returns to the man who settled the tie. Saka’s goal carried Arsenal to Budapest and left him deflecting questions about the identity of the final opponent, insisting the team’s focus is on the job that remains. On May 30, whether the scoreboard reads Psg Vs Arsenal or Bayern Munich Vs Arsenal, it will be his finish that got them there.
