The title match in soccer鈥檚 biggest club competition is underway: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Arsenal in the in Budapest, Hungary.
PSG is looking to win Europe鈥檚 elite competition for a second straight year while Arsenal is bidding to become European champion for the first time on its return to the final after a 20-year wait.
Both teams are coming off winning their own domestic leagues, in France and England, respectively.
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Kai Havertz joins an exclusive club
The Germany forward becomes only the third player 鈥� after Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Real Madrid) and Mario Mandzukic (Juventus and Bayern Munich) 鈥� to score in a Champions League final for two different teams, according to stats supplier Opta.
Arsenal鈥檚 players happy to defend the lead
Arsenal is sitting deep and PSG has all the possession.
Expect that to be the case while Arsenal leads.
There鈥檚 even a bit of time-wasting from Arsenal on goal kicks — to the annoyance of PSG fans.
Arsenal take an early lead
Kai Havertz makes it 1-0 for the Gunners in the sixth minute.
Marquinhos鈥� attempted clearance rebounds off Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard and into the path of Havertz, who strides through on goal from near halfway. His shot from a narrow angle goes into the roof of the net.
We are go! The final is underway
The players emerge from their huddles and the Champions League is underway with Arsenal taking the kickoff.
Fan sneaks away from hospital after serious injury
An English fan was taken to hospital Saturday afternoon after suffering what police called a 鈥渓ife-threatening鈥� injury in an electric scooter accident, but wasn鈥檛 willing to let the injury keep him from the final.
Budapest police said the man 鈥渓eft the hospital without permission because he was adamant about going to the match.鈥�
They added that they are looking for the man and trying to contact his family 鈥渂ecause he requires immediate medical attention.鈥�
Going back-to-back is not easy
Only Real Madrid has successfully defended the Champions League title since the competition was rebranded in 1992.
Can PSG be the second team to do so?
The Madrid team of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale won the Champions League three times in a row (2016-18), under coach Zinedine Zidane.
Since then, no defending champion has reached the final until this PSG team, which beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich last year.
Get ready for clash of styles
PSG and Arsenal have reached the title match adopting vastly different playing approaches.
PSG is the top-scoring team in the competition with 44 goals — that鈥檚 an average of more than three per game.
Arsenal has the Champions League鈥檚 best defense, letting in just six goals in 14 games and keeping nine clean sheets, three more than any other team has registered.
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Non-World Cup referee in charge
The man entrusted with being the referee for the biggest match in club soccer won鈥檛 even be going to next month’s World Cup.
German ref Daniel Siebert was left off FIFA鈥檚 list of match officials for the World Cup 鈥� after going to the 2022 edition in Qatar 鈥� so handling the Champions League final is a consolation prize in a sense.
This will be the third straight round Siebert will have worked an Arsenal match.
Video review 鈥� or VAR, as it鈥檚 known in soccer circles 鈥� will be in operation for the final.
Here are lineups for Champions League final
PSG: Matvey Safonov; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Vitinha, Jo茫o Neves, Fabian Ruiz; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Demb茅l茅, D茅sir茅 Dou茅.
Arsenal: David Raya; Cristhian Mosquera, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalh茫es, Piero Hincapi茅; Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard; Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka.
NYC Mayor Mamdani urges beloved Arsenal to 鈥榚njoy moment鈥�
Zohran Mamdani is a big Arsenal fan and the New York Mayor was seen wearing club-branded clothing when he joined residents across the city for Eid al-Adha prayers this week.
In an article he has written for The Athletic ahead of the final, Mamdani said he started supporting Arsenal from the age of 9 after his uncle 鈥渋ntroduced me to a team with a cannon on its shirt.鈥�
He says supporting the team 鈥渋ncreasingly became an exercise in nostalgia鈥� until the recent uplift under Mikel Arteta.
鈥淥ver these past two years, no matter how chaotic life became, Arsenal remained the constant,鈥� he writes.
Mamdani acknowledges PSG is 鈥渂rilliant鈥� and 鈥渇rustratingly well-managed鈥� by Luis Enrique, but has a message for Arsenal and its fans: 鈥淓njoy this moment, because they don鈥檛 come around often.鈥�
Rivalry extends to fans鈥� chants
Fans are making their way to the stadium under a cloudy, threatening sky in Budapest, and they鈥檒l have a role to play in the final.
Not least with the rival chants that you might get to hear in your TV broadcast.
PSG鈥檚 most notable song will see their passionate Ultras bellow 鈥淭ous ensemble on chantera鈥� (All together we will sing).
Arsenal fans have their own chant that has grown in popularity over the last few seasons in manager Arteta鈥檚 6 陆-year reign, with a chorus taken from 鈥淭he Angel (North London Forever)鈥� — written by singer and Arsenal fan Louis Dunford in 2022.
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Hungary and soccer
This is the first European Cup final to be staged in Hungary and it comes at an for the Central European country, a few weeks after right-wing populist leader Viktor Orb谩n鈥榮 heavy in the elections.
P茅ter Magyar is the prime minister and is set to attend the match at the 67,000-seat Puskas Arena, a stadium that opened in 2019 and was built on the same site as the previous Ferenc Puskas Stadion 鈥� named after the Hungarian and Real Madrid great who won three European Cups as a player.
Orb谩n is a massive soccer fan and attempted to bring back the glory days of the 1950s, when Hungary had one of the world鈥檚 top teams.
To that end, the arena, located a few kilometers east of central Budapest, has become a well-known host for European games. The stadium staged the UEFA Super Cup in 2020, as well as a slew of Champions League group games and four European Championship matches in 2021. In 2023, it hosted the Europa League final won by Sevilla.
Somebody told me The Killers are playing…
Pre-match entertainment is being provided by American rock band The Killers, who are best known for songs like 鈥淢r. Brightside,鈥� 鈥淪mile Like You Mean It鈥� and 鈥淪omebody Told Me.鈥�
It differs from the Super Bowl, where artists perform in a halftime show.
The Killers, who hail from Las Vegas, predicted an 鈥渆pic match鈥� when they were announced to be performing 鈥� though at the time, they didn鈥檛 know who the finalists would be.
In previous years, Linkin Park, Lenny Kravitz and Dua Lipa have been headliners in Champions League finals.
Big gathering at Parc des Princes
Some 48,000 fans are expected to fill PSG鈥檚 stadium in Paris, the Parc des Princes, to watch the match on giant screens.
PSG said Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire is among the officials expected to attend.
Former players, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Claude Mak茅l茅l茅 and Ronaldinho, have been invited to Budapest for the final.
Capital clubs go head-to-head 鈥� and that鈥檚 rare
It鈥檚 the first time in 55 years that clubs from two different capital cities are competing in the final of Europe鈥檚 biggest club competition.
The last was Ajax (of Amsterdam) vs. Panathinaikos (of Athens) in 1971.
There were only two before that: Benfica (Lisbon) vs. Real Madrid in 1962 and Real Madrid vs. Partizan Belgrade in 1966.
This is also the first major European final featuring teams from France and England.
The World Cup is coming. No injuries please!
It鈥檚 the last match of the European club season 鈥� and coaches will be watching on with a mixture of intrigue and nervousness.
The World Cup begins in 12 days, and the squads of both PSG and Arsenal are bulging with players heading to the tournament being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Any injuries sustained in the final could be devastating so close to the big kickoff.
Arsenal has 鈥渢aste鈥� for trophies now
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says winning the Premier League has whetted the players鈥� appetite for more trophies.
Nothing comes bigger than the Champions League.
鈥淭he ambition is bigger,鈥� Arteta said in his pre-match news conference. 鈥淲e have one, and we want the second one … there has to be a platform to reach bigger destinations.鈥�
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was the first player in the squad to get his hands on the Premier League trophy, and he liked it.
鈥淲hen you get the taste of winning and lifting a trophy,鈥� Odegaard says, 鈥測ou know how nice it feels. And we want to do it again.鈥�
Demb茅l茅, Dou茅, Saka … a bunch of world鈥檚 best are on show
Many of soccer鈥檚 superstar players will be taking the field at Puskas Arena 鈥� not least PSG forward Ousmane Demb茅l茅, the most recent .
, the 20-year-old forward who lit up last year鈥檚 final with two goals in the record over Inter Milan, is still a shining light for PSG along with Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and three of Cristiano Ronaldo鈥檚 top teammates with Portugal 鈥� Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Joao Neves.
Arsenal has England stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice in midfield and the striker who has just sent Sweden to the 鈥� Viktor Gy枚keres.
Fans brawl in central Budapest
Groups of fans got physical late Friday in Budapest鈥檚 frequented party area, leading police to launch an investigation over disorderly conduct.
Videos on social media showed several dozen people throwing punches and kicks, driving another group down Kir谩ly street in the capital鈥檚 District 7.
One fan held a burning red flare before throwing it toward the other group, which was retreating down the street. Budapest police said in a statement that the violence erupted shortly after midnight, and that it was using surveillance footage to try to identify participants.
__ AP soccer:
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