# Breaking Down PSG’s Weaknesses: How Arsenal Can Beat PSG in the Champions League Final

URL: https://technosports.co.in/how-arsenal-can-beat-psg-in-the-ucl-final/  
Published: 2026-05-30  
Updated: 2026-05-30  
Author: Ankush Mallick

[**Arsenal** ](https://www.arsenal.com/)are one win away from history.

Victory in Saturday’s **Champions League** final in Budapest would make them the **25th different winners** of the competition — including its time as the European Cup — having never previously lifted the trophy. Having already wrapped up the **Premier League** title last week, they would become just the **fourth English club to complete the European double**.

The only obstacle is **Paris Saint-Germain**.

That means **Arsenal** must beat the reigning European champions to claim their crown — or survive 120 minutes and hope to win on penalties. Either way, it is a formidable ask.

**PSG** won last season’s final against Inter **5-0**, having knocked out Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Arsenal along the way. This season, they have eliminated Monaco, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich in the knockout stages. They have won each of their last **five ties against Premier League opponents** and, in keeping Bayern Munich at arm’s length in the second leg of the semi-final, proved they can handle the very best. At the time of that victory, Bayern were ranked the **best team in the world** in the Opta Power Rankings.

That top spot now belongs to **Arsenal**, who moved into first place last week. The final is between the world’s two best teams. But understanding exactly where **PSG** can be hurt is the starting point for everything **Arsenal** need to do.

## Assumption One: PSG Will Score

Before outlining how **Arsenal** can win, it is worth establishing an uncomfortable truth: stopping **PSG’s** forward line — **Ousmane Dembélé**, **Désiré Doué**, and **Khvicha Kvaratskhelia** — is something very few opponents manage.

**PSG** need just one more goal in the **Champions League** to match **Barcelona’s** record of 45 goals scored in a single European Cup season, set in 1999-2000. Across all competitions, they have scored in each of their **last 27 games**, netting **62 times** — a rate of **2.24 goals per game**.

The quality of opposition in some of those fixtures is clearly variable. But in recent weeks alone, **PSG** put four past Liverpool over two legs, five and then three past Chelsea, and five past Bayern Munich. Inter’s entire gameplan in last season’s final was essentially to defend as long as possible and hope. It ended 5-0.

**Arsenal** would be wise not to adopt the same approach. The assumption heading into Budapest should probably be that **PSG** will score, and **Arsenal’s** tactical plan must account for that. A team that has won **11 games by exactly 1-0** this season — more than any other club in Europe’s top five leagues across all competitions — will naturally be drawn toward defensive solidity. But this occasion likely demands more than that.

**Arsenal** may well need to go on the attack.

## The Pressing Blueprint: Learn From the Etihad

That **Arsenal** would attack in the final is not as dramatic a suggestion as it might seem. Their approach at the **Etihad Stadium** against Manchester City last month provides the template.

That day, **Arsenal** pressed from the first whistle — applying **474 pressures** to their opponents, more than in any other **Premier League** game this season. They did not sit off at any stage. They were aggressive, front-footed, and relentless. And it was **Kai Havertz’s** high pressing that directly forced the only goal of the game.

**PSG** give reason to believe a similar approach could work. Despite their technical quality, they are surprisingly susceptible to errors under pressure.

| PSG Errors in Champions League 2025-26 | Total | Per Game | UCL Ranking |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Errors leading to an opposition shot | 26 (joint most) | 1.63 | 4th worst |
| Errors leading to a goal | 6 (joint most) | 0.38 | 9th worst |

These are not figures associated with a team as technically gifted as **PSG**. They get into trouble playing out from the back with surprising regularity. Only two teams in the **Champions League** this season have lost possession within **40 metres of their own goalline** more frequently than **PSG**, who have done so **141 times** at an average of **8.8 times per game**.

![Arsenal](https://technosports.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PSG-errors-leading-to-shots-UCL-2025-26.jpg)

That per-game rate of **8.8 high turnovers conceded** places them 14th among the 36 teams in this season’s competition. The context makes it even more striking:

| High Turnovers Conceded Per Game (UCL 2025-26) | Club | Per Game |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bayern Munich | 4.0 | Among best |
| Arsenal | 4.4 | Among best |
| Liverpool | 5.0 | Among best |
| Manchester City | 5.4 | Among best |
| PSG | 8.8 | 14th of 36 |

Teams **PSG** consider their peers — Bayern, **Arsenal**, Liverpool, City — all rank among the competition’s best five in this regard. **PSG** are nowhere near them. And only **two teams** in the **Champions League** this season have conceded more goals following a high turnover of possession than **PSG’s** four, with only **six teams** posting a worse per-game rate of **0.25** — one every four games. The list of those six clubs: PSV, Tottenham, Bodø/Glimt, Juventus, Chelsea, and Copenhagen. It is not a group **PSG** will want to be associated with.

![](https://technosports.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PSG-high-turnovers-against-UCL-2025-26.jpg)

**Tottenham** — one of those teams — actually scored after winning the ball high up the pitch against **PSG** during their 5-3 defeat in Paris in November. **Arsenal’s** high press, applied with the intensity they showed at the Etihad, has a genuine chance of replicating exactly that.

## The Set-Piece Dimension

**Arsenal’s** set-piece expertise needs no introduction. They hold the **Premier League** record for goals scored from corners in a single season and have been among the most dangerous dead-ball teams in Europe all campaign.

**PSG** are not entirely secure from set-pieces. Only **five Ligue 1 clubs** conceded a higher proportion of their goals from set-piece situations this season than **PSG’s** **20.7%**. And they have not yet encountered an opponent with anything close to **Arsenal’s** threat at dead balls.

Set-pieces arrive infrequently and are not guaranteed, but they represent a viable avenue to goal that **Arsenal’s** planning will almost certainly address in detail.

## Attack Down PSG’s Right: The Hakimi Vulnerability

Perhaps the single most exploitable tactical weakness **PSG** possess is the space that opens up down their **right flank** whenever **Achraf Hakimi** pushes forward.

Hakimi is one of the best attacking right-backs in world football, and **Luis Enrique** encourages him to get forward at every opportunity. But that attacking licence creates a clear defensive liability. Of all **36 teams** in this season’s **Champions League**, only **PSV** and **Chelsea** have seen their opponents create more chances down their right side than **PSG’s** **37.3%**.

![](https://technosports.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PSG-attacking-third-against-UCL-2025-266.jpg)

The evidence of what teams have done with that space is instructive:

- **Tottenham’s** Archie Gray scored after **Arsenal’s** opponents attacked down that flank and put a ball across the face of goal during Spurs’ trip to Paris in November.
- **Chelsea’s** Pedro Neto did the same in their knockout tie against **PSG**.
- **Luis Díaz’s** exceptional goal for Bayern at the Parc des Princes in the semi-final came after a darting run in behind the **PSG** defence that Hakimi made no effort to track, leaving the Colombian one-on-one with a helpless Marquinhos.

The pattern is clear: get in behind **PSG** down their right side, and the results can be devastating.

| Opposition Goals/Chances Created Down PSG’s Right (UCL) | Source | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Archie Gray (Tottenham) | Cross from the right channel | Goal — PSG’s right exposed |
| Pedro Neto (Chelsea) | Attacking down PSG’s right | Goal |
| Luis Díaz (Bayern) | Run in behind, Hakimi not tracking | One-on-one — Goal |

This makes **Arsenal’s** choice on the left wing one of the most tactically significant decisions Mikel Arteta will make ahead of Saturday. **Leandro Trossard** has occupied that position in most of **Arsenal’s** recent meaningful games. But there is a credible argument that **Gabriel Martinelli’s** direct running and raw pace could be better equipped to exploit the space in behind Hakimi — driving at the defender and stretching **PSG’s** defensive structure in the way Díaz did so effectively for Bayern.

## The Cold Hard Truth

There is no avoiding it: **Arsenal** will be up against it on Saturday.

**PSG** are going for back-to-back **Champions League** crowns. **Arsenal** have lost their last four major European finals. The reigning champions have conceded just **four goals** in nine knockout matches across this season’s competition. They are experienced, settled, and motivated.

But **PSG** have flaws — real, exploitable ones. Their back four can be exposed by pace in behind on their right side. Their goalkeeper and defenders make errors under pressure. Their high turnover rate is genuinely concerning for a team of their quality. And no opponent this season has arrived with **Arsenal’s** specific combination of set-piece threat, high-press intensity, and defensive resilience.

**Arsenal** will need to be nearly perfect from front to back. But the route to winning is clear: press high, attack down the left, threaten at set-pieces, and defend for their lives when the ball goes the other way.

History awaits. It is within reach. Ninety minutes stand between **Arsenal** and their first **Champions League** title.

Read More: [Why Vitinha Has Become the Heartbeat of Luis Enrique’s PSG](https://technosports.co.in/why-vitinha-has-become-the-heartbeat-of-psg/)

## FAQs

### What would Arsenal winning the Champions League final mean historically?

Victory would make Arsenal the 25th different winners of the competition. Combined with their Premier League title, it would make them only the fourth English club to complete the European double.

### Why is pressing PSG high up the pitch a viable tactic for Arsenal?

PSG have committed the joint-most errors leading to an opposition shot (26) and joint-most errors leading to a goal (6) in the Champions League this season. They have also conceded possession within 40 metres of their own goal 141 times — 8.8 times per game — placing them 14th of 36 teams in the competition.

### Which side of PSG’s defence should Arsenal target most aggressively?

PSG’s right flank, vacated when Achraf Hakimi pushes forward, is their clearest structural vulnerability. Only PSV and Chelsea have seen opponents create more chances down that side (37.3%) in this season’s Champions League. Tottenham, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich have all scored by exploiting exactly that space.

### Are PSG vulnerable at set-pieces?

They are not immune. Five Ligue 1 teams conceded a higher proportion of their goals from set-pieces this season than PSG’s 20.7%. Arsenal are the most dangerous set-piece team they have faced all campaign.

### Should Arsenal attack or defend in the Champions League final?

The evidence suggests attacking is the more viable strategy. PSG have scored in each of their last 27 games across all competitions and eliminated Inter 5-0 in last season’s final after Inter tried to defend deeply. Arsenal’s best chance is likely to press aggressively, exploit PSG’s errors, and not rely solely on defensive resilience.