Football has increasingly become about narratives.
From pre-match television montages, to podcasts, all the way down to the dregs of YouTube fan shows, everyone is desperate to tell the story of a match before it takes place.
This year's Champions League final is an easy sell on that front with the old question, 'what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?’
With Paris Saint-Germain being cast in the free-flowing, attack at all-costs role and Arsenal portrayed as a stalwart and plucky ‘get men behind the ball’ side, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this final is akin to a third round FA Cup tie mismatch.
The bookmakers have the defending champions down as the heavy favourites and certainly it’s a game where Arsenal will have to cope without having the ball for long spells but it’s unlikely to be as one-sided an encounter as is portrayed.
Mikel Arteta’s men will walk out at the Puskas Arena full of belief. Having ended the long wait to see their name etched on the Premier League trophy again, there’s a quiet confidence among players that they can go one further and lift the European Cup for the first time.
Long cast as a team of ‘bottlers’ and nearly men, this Arsenal squad showed their steel and resilience with the way they secured the title. Bouncing back from potentially crushing defeats to Manchester City and Bournemouth, the Gunners recovered to rattle off five wins on the bounce to clinch the title.
They’ll need to show the same characteristics against PSG but Arsenal will also be able to draw encouragement from the meetings with the French giants last season.
The record books show that Arsenal lost both legs of their semi-final clash last term going down 1-0 at the Emirates and 2-1 at the Parc des Princes as PSG secured their place in the final, but it’s not the full story of that tie.
Arsenal conceded early goals in both legs, leaving themselves with a mountain to climb, while PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a masterclass across the two games, denying Gabriel Martinelli what looked to be certain goals on three occasions.
PSG dominated the midfield in those semi-final games last season and their wingers and overlapping full-backs stretched Arsenal constantly, never letting them settle in the centre.
This season Arsenal look a more complete and adaptable side that have gone from being able to dominate phases of the game to one that is more comfortable out of possession and less vulnerable to counter attacks.
There will be times in Hungary when Arsenal are forced back and put under real pressure but they look better placed to counter from those positions now with an improved squad and more attacking options – both on the field and off the bench.
This season’s attacking signings of Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke are all unlikely to start the final but can cause big problems for PSG later in the game.
Bukayo Saka, ever eager to run at players, will be a crucial outlet for the Gunners as will Leandro Trossard, who looks set to start as their targetman up front.
Who lines up behind Saka remains uncertain however and with Ben White out, and Jurian Timber only just coming back from injury, it could fall to Spanish defender Cristhian Mosquera.
Whoever he plays in front of, Saka will have sat up and taken notice of how many problems Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise was able to cause for the PSG defence in the semi-final.
Those two semi-final games were ridiculously open and while it made for fine entertainment for the fans, Arsenal will know that they can’t go toe-to-toe with PSG and match them in an attacking sense.
The German champions tried that and came off second best. There was almost a sense of naivete to the way Bayern approach those two legs, believing that they could out-shoot the most dangerous attacking side in the competition and they paid for their hubris.
Arsenal won’t make that mistake. They’ll play a more cautious game but know that they have the weapons to hurt PSG with their counter-attacking pace and the creativity from dead balls.
Luis Enrique will be acutely aware of Arsenal’s threat from free-kicks and corner, but whether he’s able to nullify them is another case entirely.
The referee could help and Arsenal’s tendency to get overly physical at corners is likely to get short shrift from German referee Daniel Siebert – who didn’t endear himself to the Gunners when he turned down two big penalty appeals in their semi-final.
Like Arteta, Enrique has issues at right-back with Achraf Hakimi only just returning to the training pitch from a thigh injury. Hakimi is an outstanding attacking full-back and his loss will be felt if he can’t make it.
Warren Zaire-Emery is a decent option to replace Hakimi, but PSG would lose a lot in attack.
The French side continue to monitor forward Ousmane Dembele, who has a calf problem, but is expected to be fit enough to start – if not last the full match. William Saliba and Gabriel will have their hands full with Dembele, but he’s far from the only PSG threat.
Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are two of the most in-form attacking players in Europe right now and stopping them is key to the Gunners’ hopes. Which brings us back to that question of narrative.
Keeping the PSG frontline quiet, taking their chances on the break and from deadballs represents Arsenal's biggest chance of their first Champions League.
An old chant from the George Graham era has been doing the rounds in the Emirates of late and the Gunners have already won 26 games by a single goal this season. Of those, 11 were 1-0.
There's every chance that will be 12 come Saturday night.
1-0 to the Arsenal.
Watch the Champions League final, PSG v Arsenal, on Saturday from 4pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
