Arsenal's Mosquera, Havertz start Champions League final

Cristhian Mosquera starts the Champions League final for Arsenal at right-back against holders Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, with Jurrien Timber named on the bench after over two months out with a groin injury.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said the Dutch defender was fit to start but opted to play centre-back Mosquera on the right of the defence instead, up against arguably the tournament's top performer, PSG winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The Spaniard also selects Kai Havertz in attack instead of Viktor Gyokeres and Piero Hincapie at left-back over Riccardo Calafiori.

For Luis Enrique's French champions Ousmane Dembele and Achraf Hakimi start despite previous injury issues.

Morocco international Hakimi's last match was PSG's thrilling 5-4 semi-final first leg win over Bayern Munich, after which he was sidelined with a thigh problem.

Fabian Ruiz starts in a strong midfield trio with Vitinha and Joao Neves, behind the dynamic attacking trio of Dembele, Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue.

Here are the line-ups

Paris Saint-Germain

The teams are in for the clash, with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) naming Matvey Safonov in goal, supported by Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho and Nuno Mendes in defence. In midfield, Vitinha, João Neves and Fabian Ruiz provide control, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué lead the attacking line.

Arsenal

Arsenal respond with David Raya between the posts, backed by Cristhian Mosquera, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães and Piero Hincapié in defence. The midfield trio of Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Martin Ødegaard anchor the side, with Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka forming the front line.

Hungary and soccer

This is the first European Cup final to be staged in Hungary and it comes at an interesting time for the Central European country, a few weeks after right-wing populist leader Viktor Orbán's heavy defeat in the elections.

Peter 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 - named after the Hungarian and Real Madrid great who won three European Cups as a player.

Orbán is a massive soccer fan and attempted to bring back the glory days of the 1950s, when Hungary had one of the world's 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.

Mamdani urges beloved Arsenal to 'enjoy moment'

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 "introduced me to a team with a cannon on its shirt."

He says supporting the team "increasingly became an exercise in nostalgia" until the recent uplift under Mikel Arteta.

"Over these past two years, no matter how chaotic life became, Arsenal remained the constant," he writes.

Mamdani acknowledges PSG is "brilliant" and "frustratingly well-managed" by Luis Enrique, but has a message for Arsenal and its fans: "Enjoy this moment, because they don't come around often."

Rivalry extends to fans' chants

Fans are making their way to the stadium under a cloudy, threatening sky in Budapest, and they'll 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's most notable song will see their passionate Ultras bellow "Tous ensemble on chantera" (All together we will sing).

Arsenal fans have their own chant that has grown in popularity over the last few seasons in manager Arteta's 6 ½-year reign, with a chorus taken from "The Angel (North London Forever)" -- written by singer and Arsenal fan Louis Dunford in 2022.

Capital clubs go head-to-head – and that's rare

It's the first time in 55 years that clubs from two different capital cities are competing in the final of Europe's 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's the last match of the European club season – and World Cup 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 "taste" for trophies now

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says winning the Premier League has whetted the players' appetite for more trophies.

Nothing comes bigger than the Champions League.

"The ambition is bigger," Arteta said in his pre-match news conference. "We have one, and we want the second one ... there has to be a platform to reach bigger destinations."

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was the first player in the squad to get his hands on the Premier League trophy, and he liked it.