Mikel Arteta put his first-team squad through their paces in Hungary on Thursday after Arsenal touched down in Budapest, the club’s final training run before Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
The uefa champions league is being searched now because the title will be decided on Saturday in Budapest, when Arsenal and PSG meet for the trophy that would be Arsenal’s first and a chance for PSG to defend the crown they won last season.
Central to Arsenal’s preparations was Eberechi Eze, who spoke plainly about the moment the match offers and reminded listeners of a personal high point a year ago — scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final. “We are just another group of people that have the opportunity to win the Champions League and I pray that we take it. When we do, it will be a special moment for sure,” Eze said, framing the game not as destiny but as an opportunity the squad must seize.
There are hard numbers behind the narrative on both sides. Viktor Gyokeres has produced 19 goals in his debut season for Arsenal and Bukayo Saka has 10, while Eze himself has seven. PSG arrive with a different kind of recent pedigree: they are the defending champions after last season’s 5-0 final win over Inter Milan in Munich, a match in which Desire Doue scored twice and others including Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Senny Mayulu added goals. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia leads PSG’s scoring charts across all competitions this season by a single goal ahead of Ousmane Dembele, who has 18.
Those figures are the practical evidence of the friction at the heart of Saturday’s game: PSG are widely described as heavy favourites to defend their crown, carrying last season’s rout and a squad full of seasoned scorers; Arsenal, by contrast, have never won Europe’s most prized club trophy but come into the match fresh from ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League. The clash is therefore not just between two teams but between PSG’s recent continental dominance and Arsenal’s push to turn domestic success into European breakthrough.
Eze’s voice underscores that internal conflict. He refused to frame the final as a coronation for anyone: “We are just another group of people that have the opportunity to win the Champions League and I pray that we take it.” His remark sits against PSG’s heavy-favourites billing and the memory of their 5-0 final last season, highlighting the gap Arsenal must close in 90 minutes in Budapest.
Arteta’s session in Hungary was the practical step Arsenal chose to try to close that gap. The training run and the squad’s arrival in Budapest on Thursday were the last routine actions before the decisive match day; the detail now shifts from preparation to selection, tactics and whether Arsenal can convert their domestic momentum — and Eze’s belief — into a first continental title.
Saturday will answer the single, consequential question left now: can Arsenal, with players such as Gyokeres, Saka and Eze stepping up, topple PSG and lift the Uefa Champions League, or will Paris Saint-Germain complete back-to-back triumphs and reinforce their recent European hegemony? Whatever happens in Budapest will turn Eze’s prayer into either history or near miss.
