Champions League final: Five key storylines to follow

World Cup implications

If Arsenal and PSG are Europe's best club teams, then it stands to reason that they'll feature a whole host of potential World Cup stars in this match. Eight members of Arsenal's last Champions League starting lineup — David Raya (Spain), William Saliba (France), Gabriel (Brazil), Declan Rice (England), Bukayo Saka (England), Eberechi Eze (England), Leandro Trossard (Belgium) and Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden) — will feature in the World Cup this summer, while nine of PSG's — Nuno Mendes (Portugal), Willian Pacho (Ecuador), Marquinhos (Portugal), Warren Zaire-Emery (France), Joao Neves (Portugal), Vitinha (Portugal), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Ousmane Dembele (France) and Desire Doue (France) — will do the same. Winning this match should have half these players entering their World Cup on a high, but losing it could cause the other group to enter it in a funk.

Fatigue

The Champions League final is the last game of the European season, and what a long haul it's been to get here. Both Arsenal and PSG have been playing consistent, high-level professional games since August with little to no break. But it's Arsenal that has played the most: It's pushed itself through a whopping 62 competitive matches this season between the Premier League, the Champions League and its domestic cups. PSG, meanwhile, has played just 53.

It's also had far more opportunities to rotate its top players. With the French league far less competitive than the Premier League, PSG can get away with resting its stars (while still competing for the title) in a way that Arsenal can only dream about. Five Arsenal players — David Raya, Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba and Gabriel — have logged over 4,000 minutes of play this season, while just one PSG player— Warren Zaire-Emery — has done the same.

Arsenal's big-time striker

Arsenal's most lauded striker is undoubtedly Viktor Gyokeres — the untouchable Swede bounced back from a slow start to play a key role in the club's Champions League campaign. But while Gyokeres has scored winners in plenty of key Arsenal matches, he's never scored a winner in the Champions League final.

Kai Havertz has. It was his daisy-cutter at the stroke of halftime that handed Chelsea the 2021 Champions League trophy over Manchester City. Havertz has missed much of Arsenal's season through injury, but he's finally fit, energized and galvanized — and his starring role in the 2021 final could inspire him to similar heights in this one.

PSG's unbelievable midfield

PSG's wild goalscoring record means that its attackers get plenty of headlines — everyone knows that Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are second to none. But the unsung heroes of this team's stellar 2025/26 season are its oft-overlooked midfielders. Portugal's Vitinha and Joao Neves and Spain's Fabian Ruiz have formed a dangerous triumvirate that does more to control PSG's pacing than many fans realize. And with both Portugal and Spain entering this summer's World Cup as trophy favorites, their performance in this final might be a sneak peek into which of the two nations will leave the summer as a world champion.

Arsenal and PSG will compete in the Champions League final on Saturday in Budapest.