The 2025–26 Champions League final will bring Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain together once more. It will be the fourth meeting between the two clubs in the last two years and the eighth official encounter in their history.

Their first competitive tie came during the 1993–94 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup semifinals. The opening leg finished level and Arsenal won the second leg 1–0 to advance. The north London club went on to lift that competition, which remains their last European title.

The most recent sequence of meetings occurred across the 2024–25 campaign. The sides first met in the inaugural Champions League league phase on Oct. 1, 2024 at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal won 2–0, with first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka. Then-PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had a difficult evening and PSG managed only an xG of 0.40. Ousmane Dembélé was internally suspended by Luis Enrique and did not travel to London.

The tie returned in the Champions League semifinals. Arsenal arrived at the first leg confident after dethroning Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, but the contest at the Emirates changed early. Four minutes in, Dembélé scored from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia assist; Kvaratskhelia had joined PSG during the 2025 winter window. PSG dominated the first half and Donnarumma produced five saves to preserve the 1–0 advantage for the trip to Paris.

Arsenal pushed for a comeback in the Parc des Princes but PSG were clinical in the second leg. Fabián Ruiz scored inside the opening 30 minutes to double PSG’s aggregate lead. Vitinha missed a second-half penalty and three minutes later Achraf Hakimi made it 3–0 on aggregate. Bukayo Saka pulled one back in the 76th minute but PSG progressed. Donnarumma again impressed with three saves, including a notable stop to deny a Saka effort.

PSG advanced to the final for only the second time and later defeated Inter Milan 5–0 to win the club’s first Champions League title.

Marcus Rashford’s destination for 2026 remains unresolved as Manchester United balance competing interests and contractual realities. Barcelona are no longer viewed as a long-term landing place and have been described as cash-strapped, with reports that they have tried to negotiate a further discount. Manchester United are widely believed to have no intention of allowing that. If Rashford stays at Barcelona at all, it might only be in the form of another loan .

There is genuine uncertainty over whether a path back to Old Trafford exists. Ruben Amorim’s departure in January would certainly help that prospect, while United currently lack a natural fit for Rashford’s preferred left-sided role. Cost is a factor too, with the player contractually entitled to a pay rise that complicates any permanent deal.

The Daily Mail now report that Arsenal are “monitoring the situation.” The same report cites similar Bayern Munich interest. Arsenal’s left wing has been identified as one of the weaker areas of their forward line. Leandro Trossard is described as reliable and functional but limited, and he currently has the edge on Gabriel Martinelli, who has ironically been touted as a target for Barcelona to replace Rashford.

A move to Arsenal, with no numbers disclosed at this stage, would echo Danny Welbeck’s 2014 transfer from Manchester to London. Welbeck emerged from the United academy aged 17 and played 142 senior games before he was sold. Cruelly, his Arsenal career was plagued by injuries and it is only since joining Brighton & Hove Albion shortly before turning 30 in 2020 that he’s rediscovered himself.

For Bayern, signing Rashford would follow a recent pattern of Premier League recruits. Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz have been credited with supercharging the German side after moves from Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively. Rashford might not be an automatic starter for Bayern’s strongest XI but could provide versatile cover across the front three.

Matheus Cunha has been United’s regular left-wing option in recent months, though his favoured role is central. Mason Mount has also been deployed there, while Patrick Dorgu is built more as an attacking fullback than a specialist winger. The report names AC Milan’s Rafael Leão as one of “a number of options” United could consider; Leão is cited at a possible $68 million (£50 million). With the possibility Rashford is not sold and instead returns to Manchester, little can be resolved until his plans for the next year are clear.

Wayne Rooney questioned the scale of Arsenal’s emotions on the pitch after Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal win over Atlético Madrid. Standing at the side of the Emirates pitch and commenting for Amazon Prime Video, he observed: “They haven’t won it yet,” and added, “I think the celebrations are a little bit too heavy. Celebrate when you win … but no, they deserve it.”

Arsène Wenger offered a contrasting perspective. Wenger, the only Arsenal manager before Arteta to steer the club to a Champions League final, said on beIN Sport: “They celebrate well tonight which is normal but you want to focus already on the final and the next games,” and defended the players’ reaction: “The celebration is deserved and happiness is normal—absolutely normal—but the next step is to go to the final and win it.”

The moment underlined how Arsenal’s progress has rekindled comparisons with the run to the 2006 final. Wenger’s 2006 side reached the Paris showpiece after a defensive sequence that included 10 successive clean sheets, Barcelona breaking that run only in the 76th minute in the final.

Arteta’s team have shown similar defensive resilience this season. Tuesday’s shutout against Atlético was Arsenal’s ninth clean sheet in 14 Champions League games this term. David Raya has been central to that record, facing an average of less than three shots on target per game in European competition this term, a mark described as comfortably the best on the continent. Atlético managed to force the Gunners’ goalkeeper into two saves before their European campaign faltered.

The exchange between Rooney and Wenger also highlighted contrasting touchline styles. Wenger was not a very demonstrative manager on Arsenal’s touchline, unlike Arteta, yet even the reserved Frenchman accepted the players’ celebration while pointing to the need for focus on the final and the matches that follow.