PSG vs. Arsenal: "The only way" for Mikel Arteta to beat Luis Enrique in Champions League final

Sports Mole coordinator and Arsenal expert Ben Knapton, speaking on the SM podcast:

It is starting to feel real. Arsenal are playing in a Champions League final.

It is not the first in my lifetime, but it is the first in my lifetime as an Arsenal fan, and - unfortunately - many of my colleagues know the feeling of seeing your team play in a Champions League final.

It was such a high over the weekend seeing Arsenal lift the Premier League title after 22 years. There may have been a tear or two shed; such was the magic of the experience. That can only be topped by seeing your team conquer the Champions League.

My editor has very kindly taken me off matchday duties, so I can experience this one as a fan, not as a journalist. I refuse to be impartial for these two or three hours or however long it is going to take. A quick little prediction hint: I do think this one will go to extra time.

The nerves are jangling, but regardless of what I think the result will be, I just cannot wait to watch this game. The biggest game in Arsenal's history.

Why 2025-26 Champions League final is "biggest game" in Arsenal's history

I look back at the final in 2006; that was the end of an era in many ways. The Invincibles had broken up, Patrick Vieira had left the year before, it was the final games for Ashley Cole and Robert Pires, [Dennis] Bergkamp did not play but he was in the squad for the final time.

[Thierry] Henry had one more year at Arsenal, but it was the end of his proper golden Arsenal years. They had a disappointing league performance that year, but they had still won a trophy in each of the last four seasons preceding that.

That one just felt like the end of that golden era, and the end of the Highbury days as well, so that was a momentous game.

But this one feels like the start of something, not the end of something.

Mikel Arteta is now in phase five of that five-phase plan and he has won a major trophy, but it just feels like the start of maybe a few major trophies. We could become just the fourth English team to win the double.

If Arsenal win it will be their biggest achievement in history, so you have got to call it their biggest game in history.

"The only way" for Arsenal to beat PSG in Champions League final

Arsenal really have to hone in on their defensive strengths and are going to have to absorb a lot of pressure. Arsenal are not going to outscore PSG, they're not going to outgun PSG. They have to try to out-defend them and hit on the break.

The players you'd want for hitting on the break would be [Noni] Madueke and [Gabriel] Martinelli, likely over [Bukayo] Saka and [Leandro] Trossard; you associate the former with being more pacey and direct. But I do not think either will start.

If Arsenal can keep it 0-0 for maybe 65, 70 minutes, bring on their pacey players - maybe even Gabriel Jesus - and try to nick a one-nil win on the counter-attack or from a set-piece, that is the only way I can see Arsenal getting the job done.

The alternative would be to hold out for two hours and win on penalties, but I cannot see them keeping up with PSG for two hours, so they are going to have to get it done in 90 minutes.

Hold out and do what we used to call the Rob Holding protocol - the Arsenal fans who lived through the banter years know exactly what I am talking about.

See if we can nick a goal in the 80th minute, take off a striker or midfielder, bring on Hincapie, Calafiori or whoever's on the bench - Marli Salmon even.

If it gets to that point, just try to shut up shop for those last 10 minutes, and forever immortalise yourselves on the red side of North London.