30/05/2026

SPORTS SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2026

30

Battle of wing wizards Saka, Kvaratskhelia can decide Champions League final

C HAMPIONS LEAGUE finals are often decided by a single moment of magic and both Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain are relying on their unsel fish star wingers to conjure that up in Budapest. Arsenal depend on a staunch defence but Bukayo Saka’s return from injury near the end of the sea son boosted Mikel Arteta’s team as they clinched the Premier League title. Luis Enrique’s PSG are a more thrilling attacking force but one player has stood out this season, above all in Europe: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Today’s final at the Puskas Arena might hinge on which winger shines brighter. Kvaratskhelia has been, arguably, the competition’s best performer, scoring 10 goals, with seven of those in the knock-out phase. Despite his perform “Maybe life has changed a little bit in this time, but I want to stay the same, humble, and I’m just doing the job I love. I’m just trying to enjoy it,” Kvaratskhelia told TNT Sports . It must be difficult to stay humble after being labelled “Kvaradona” as the Georgian was at Italians Napoli, where Argentine great Diego Maradona became an icon, before he joined PSG in 2025. Unpredictable and daring, adroit with either foot, a dynamic dribbler – Kvaratskhelia is sensational to watch without sacrificing efficiency or neglecting his defensive duties. The 25-year-old presses more than most players in his position – there is no room for passengers in a Luis Enrique side. ances marking him out as a Ballon d’Or candidate, the left winger said he is try ing to stay focussed and ignore the noise.

nearly two months against Fulham on May 2 following an Achilles ten don injury, helping the team claim a 3-0 win. It was the first time Arsenal had scored more than two goals in a game since February, with Saka notching one and teeing up Viktor Gyokeres for another. “He’s come back in the most important period of the season, and now he’s fresh, his mind is fresh (and) his hunger is at the highest possible height,” said Arteta. Saka, 24, has struggled this season to hit the heights of previous cam paigns but has played well since returning from injury. The winger, who spent a decade with Arsenal’s academy before mak ing his debut for the first team under Arteta’s predecessor Unai Emery, has two goals and two assists in his last four matches. “I think when he is in that form and he is playing like he always is, it is of course amazing for me and all the other guys to have him on the pitch,” said Gyokeres of the England interna tional. With 11 goals and nine assists in 48 appearances across all competi tions, Saka’s numbers are down on

to win the trophy for the first time. And Arsenal may be without first choice right-back Jurrien Timber because of a groin injury. Arsenal’s brightest talent, Saka, is similarly unselfish, putting in the hard yards to help his team stay unbeaten in Europe this season. He will need to track back to help shackle the Georgian. “It does take a lot of sacrifice and discipline but it is what the team requires,” Saka explained last term. “When you see the results, we have a lot of clean sheets and it shows that we are getting the rewards for that work.” Saka made his first start in

champions, including forwards Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, instead of taking credit himself. “I get to play with the foot ballers who can create oppor tunities for me to just shoot and score,” he added.

“Some say that I contribute more to the team in Champions League matches, but I don’t think so,” he told UEFA . “There are matches

when you may not manage to score or assist but still help the team as much as you can, which is exactly the strategy that our team applies.” Kvaratskhelia is keen to point out the quality of his team

Kvaratskhelia scored in last year’s final as PSG hammered Inter Milan 5 - 0

mates at the F r e n c h

last year’s campaign, when Arsenal were knocked out by PSG in the Champions League semifinals. The Gunners also came second in the Premier League, with Saka netting 12 goals and provid ing 14 assists in 37 appear ances.

Yet just one more decisive contribution today might be enough to land Arsenal a first his toric Champions League crown. – AFP

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka’s (left) and PSG’ s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. – REUTERSPIC

The one huge advantage PSG have over Arsenal

Ű BY RICHARD JOLLY

Taken in isolation, this could seem PSG’s least impressive Ligue 1 title. They have the joint low est points total of any French champions since 2003. In the relatively recent past, their teams have scored a century of league goals. This team got just 74. But they scored five each in a game against Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Tottenham and seven against Bayer Leverkusen, often playing seductively speedy football. They are a different side in Europe. They have had institutional support. Arsenal may note that Ligue 1 permitted PSG to call off games to plan for Champions League ties. But it is only one way in which being a French club has now seemed to become an advantage for PSG in their continental campaigns. For years, it seemed the weakness of French league seemed to leave PSG unprepared for Champions League knockout ties. They were for ever being knocked out by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Chelsea or Manchester City. Yet they have spent the last two years dispos ing of English clubs as Luis Enrique has altered the dynamic. Now the shortcomings of the rest of Ligue 1 can give PSG a better chance of winning the Champions League. – The Independent

minutes his PSG counterpart Zabarnyi has not started in Europe since October. Which shows that Marquinhos has become a part-time footballer, saved for the big occasions. The Brazilian holds the record for appearances for PSG; but only 14 have come in Ligue 1 this season, three of them off the bench. He has only begun three domestic games since early February. Dembele started the last two, one after the title was already won, but a mere 11 in all. He has only completed 90 minutes once in the French top flight this season. Kvaratskhelia has only done so three times, the last in January. It can explain why the Georgian has more goals and assists in the Champions League than Ligue 1. This is his main stage. Dembele’s bit-part role can be explained in part by hamstring and calf problems. PSG have the broader context that they are in effect playing a two-year season with no break, their participation in the Club World Cup and then the European Super Cup meaning one campaign rolled into the next. Luis Enrique has had to manage his resources and protect his players. He has done so, preserv ing them for the stiffer tasks.

The Champions League final can be framed as opposites: the best attack against the best defence, the side that only came 11th in the league phase against the one that topped the table with a 100%, the club that always wins their domestic title against the one that has just become champions for the first time in 22 years. But there is also a difference in how they did it. PSG won Ligue 1 while teamsheets showed a focus on the Champions League. They benefited from the gulf in resources between them and the rest in French football, knowing they could do enough with their squad players. If they can look faster, fitter and fresher than opponents in the Champions League, it is part because they are. If Arsenal have adopted a more attritional style as they competed on all fronts, it may have been enforced by the com petitiveness of the Premier League. Arteta’s 11 most-used players, in terms of Premier League minutes, would be a plausible starting 11: David Raya; Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Piero Hincapie; Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Leandro Trossard; and Viktor Gyokeres. But whereas Rice had the second biggest workload in Arteta’s squad, in Premier League

IT is a Paris Saint-Germain 11 but not, it is safe to say, the 11 Luis Enrique will name to face Arsenal. Lucas Chevalier is the goalkeeper. The defenders are Willian Pacho, Ilia Zabarnyi, Beraldo and Lucas Hernandez. In midfield, Vitinha is joined by Warren Zaire Emery and Senny Mayulu. In the forward line, the incomparable Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is accompanied by Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang in. It is a fair bet Mikel Arteta would be pleas antly surprised to encounter a team without the Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, the two goal star of last year’s Champions League final, Desire Doue, the classy passer Joao Neves, the flying full-backs Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi or the captain Marquinhos. He won’t, though, unless injury rules Hakimi out. But an 11 that can have a makeshift look is a trophy-winning team; or least it is the core of a team who won a trophy. They are, in terms of both minutes and starts, the most-used 11 as PSG retained the Ligue 1 title; go on total number of appearances and Goncalo Ramos and Ibrahim Mbaye would be in the first 11. They won’t start in Budapest, either.