PSG vs Arsenal: Hakimi and Dembele Return for Champions League Final
Paris Saint-Germain will defend their European crown with two key weapons back in the armoury. Achraf Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele have both been named in Luis Enrique’s travelling squad for Saturday’s Champions League final against Arsenal, easing the biggest injury fears hanging over the holders.
Hakimi has not played since pulling up with a hamstring problem in the first leg of the semi-final against Bayern Munich. Dembele limped out of PSG’s final Ligue 1 game of the season against Paris FC. Both were serious doubts. Both are on the plane.
Their inclusion does not guarantee a starting place, but it does send a clear message: PSG are arriving close to full strength for the biggest night of their season.
Hakimi knows this stage and its pressure. He scored the opener in last season’s final as PSG demolished Inter Milan 5-0 to finally get their hands on the trophy. Now he returns, patched up but present, with Arsenal standing between him and back‑to‑back titles.
Arsenal’s title high meets PSG’s iron memory
Arsenal come into the final riding a wave. Less than a week ago they lifted the Premier League trophy, ending a long domestic wait and igniting a new era under Mikel Arteta. Now they chase the double, a shot at adding Europe’s biggest prize to a season already etched into club folklore.
They know exactly who stands in their way. PSG are the side that stopped them 12 months ago, knocking the Gunners out at the semi-final stage with a 3-1 aggregate win. Fabian Ruiz and Hakimi struck in the second leg to kill that dream. The scars of that tie have not faded in north London.
This time, Arsenal arrive as champions of England, not plucky challengers. The stakes are heavier. So is the expectation.
Timber returns as Arteta’s quiet boost
The French champions are not the only ones welcoming back a key full-back.
Arsenal’s preparations received their own lift when Jurrien Timber was named in the travelling squad to Hungary after returning to training this week. The Dutch defender has been sidelined since March with a hamstring injury picked up against Everton, a setback that forced him to miss 14 straight matches in all competitions.
His availability, even if only from the bench, gives Arteta another option in a position that will be tested relentlessly by PSG’s wide threat.
“We really play as a team”
Inside the PSG camp, the mood is of a group that has grown used to this stage – and intends to stay on it.
Winger Bradley Barcola did not bother hiding the ambition when he spoke to the club’s media ahead of the final. For him, this is no novelty.
“It’s a great honour to be playing in a second final,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can to win it. We’re trying to build as much confidence as possible ahead of this final, and we’re going to work hard to make sure we’re ready.
“I really think it’s our collective strength. The fact that we play together, attack together and defend together. We really play as a team, and that’s our greatest strength right now.”
Arsenal have seen that collective power up close. They know that PSG are no longer just a gallery of stars, but a side that presses, counters and defends in unison. That shift in identity under Luis Enrique is what carried them past Bayern and back into another showpiece.
PSG squad in full
Luis Enrique’s options are deep across the pitch. PSG’s confirmed travelling squad is:
- Goalkeepers: Chevalier, Safonov, Renato Marin
- Defenders: Hakimi, Beraldo, Marquinhos, Zabarnyi, L. Hernandez, Nuno Mendes, Pacho
- Midfielders: Fabian, Vitinha, Mayulu, Dro, Zaire-Emery, Joao Neves
The forwards are not listed in the club’s release here, but the spine is clear: experience in Marquinhos and Fabian, energy in Vitinha and Zaire-Emery, thrust from Hakimi and Nuno Mendes down the flanks.
Arsenal arrive as newly crowned champions, chasing history. PSG arrive as defending kings of Europe, with their title intact and their wounded stars back on duty.
One of them will wake up on Sunday as the team that defines this era.
