Arsenal have ended their 22-year wait for the Premier League title. Now only PSG and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia stand between Mikel Arteta’s side and the first Champions League trophy in the club’s history.
The party started outside the Emirates on Tuesday night, when Erling Haaland’s stoppage-time equaliser at the Vitality Stadium came too late to give Manchester City the win they needed. Arsenal are Premier League champions for the first time since 2004, their 14th English title confirmed with one game still to play. By the time Arteta’s side takes a lap of honour at Selhurst Park on Sunday, the focus will already be shifting firmly to Budapest and 30 May.
There is plenty to celebrate. There is also a problem that the title win does nothing to solve.
Ben White sustained a significant medial knee ligament injury during the 1-0 win at West Ham on 10 May, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Jurrien Timber remains absent through a persistent ankle issue. Arsenal head into the Champions League final without either of their senior right-back options, leaving Cristhian Mosquera to take on one of the most demanding individual assignments in European football.
“You lose White and suddenly you are asking a player with fewer than 20 senior starts to his name to deal with one of the most in-form wingers in European football. The margin for error in a Champions League final is almost zero.” That view was shared by an analyst speaking to Gambling.com, home of the independent 32Red casino review and wider operator guidance.
What Kvaratskhelia Has Done to Get Here
The scale of the challenge becomes clear when you look at what the PSG winger has produced across this campaign. He has featured in 15 Champions League matches, scoring 10 goals and providing six assists for 16 goal contributions in total, making him the first player in the competition’s history to register a goal or assist in seven consecutive knockout games.
Those numbers already represent a single-season record at PSG, surpassing the previous mark set by Ousmane Dembélé during last season’s run to the final. Kvaratskhelia has eclipsed that benchmark with the knockout rounds still fresh. PSG beat Bayern Munich 6-5 on aggregate in the semi-finals, advancing through the highest-scoring Champions League semi-final leg of all time, with the Georgian central to both legs.
“His numbers are not just about the goal tally,” said a football analyst tracking the competition. “He has had a direct goal involvement every 99 minutes across the campaign, covers close to 16 kilometres per game, and he wins the ball back in his own half as often as he creates chances in theirs. Defenders do not get a moment off with him.”
Kvaratskhelia operates almost exclusively down PSG’s left, cutting diagonally across the box at pace. He is right-footed enough to disguise passes and shots, and he has won penalties at a rate that ranks him among the top four players in this season’s competition. Whoever faces him on 30 May will need to manage both the direct threat and the constant demand to track his movement off the ball.
Mosquera Passes His First Test
The 1-0 win over Burnley on Monday gave Mosquera his clearest trial yet in the role. He started at right-back alongside Saliba, Gabriel, and Calafiori, completing 90 minutes in a controlled defensive performance as Arsenal held Burnley to zero shots on target. It was not a Kvaratskhelia-level examination, but the composure was evident.
He has now accumulated 430 minutes across the Premier League and Champions League at right-back this season. He started in the position during the defeat to Manchester City in April. He came on to fill the gap after White’s withdrawal at West Ham. The sample is small by the standards of a major European final, but Arteta has been building his confidence in the role deliberately.
“Mosquera’s physicality is actually what makes this matchup interesting,” noted one analyst familiar with PSG’s attacking patterns. “Kvaratskhelia’s best moments come when he gets a yard to accelerate. A defender who can close that yard quickly and hold his position under pressure can disrupt his rhythm before he reaches full speed.”
Declan Rice remains an emergency option at right-back. Arteta trialled the England midfielder there briefly after White’s injury, but the experiment cost the Gunners control of midfield within 20 minutes. With Rice central to how Arsenal press and transition, removing him from the engine room carries its own risks on the biggest stage.
You can read Daily Cannon’s full tactical assessment of how Arsenal have set up defensively through the knockout rounds for more background on Arteta’s defensive structure this season.
The Bigger Picture
Arsenal have conceded only six goals across their entire Champions League campaign, the second fewest of any side remaining in the competition. That record is a product of collective shape, not individual brilliance. The back four personnel may change on 30 May, but the system Arteta has embedded runs deeper than any one position.
PSG arrive as defending champions, aiming to become the first side to retain the trophy since Real Madrid in 2018. Their route through the knockouts has been spectacular, though not without cost. The 6-5 aggregate win over Bayern was a different kind of game to the controlled, low-block European nights Arsenal have navigated since the round of 16. Luis Enrique’s side is capable of winning messy as well as clinical.
Arsenal now stand nine days from the most important match in their recent history. They go there as Premier League champions, unbeaten through the Champions League knockout rounds, and carrying the belief of a fanbase that waited 22 years for this moment. The loss of White is real. So is everything else this squad has built.
Budapest will answer the questions the title race never needed to.