Looking at the most used squad of Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 this season, one will see a team including Lucas Chevalier in goal. The defense with Willian Pacho, Ilia Zabarnyi, Beraldo and Lucas Hernandez. The midfield includes Vitinha, Warren Zaire-Emery and Senny Mayulu, and the attack is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang-in.
However, this is almost certainly not the squad that Luis Enrique will field in the Champions League final against Arsenal in Budapest.
Mikel Arteta would certainly be very happy if PSG lacked key players such as Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi or captain Marquinhos. But in reality, that is unlikely to happen, except in the case of Hakimi who has not fully recovered from his injury.
It is noteworthy that despite strong rotation in Ligue 1, PSG still easily successfully defended the domestic championship. This reflects the depth of the squad and the superiority in resources of the capital team compared to the rest of the league.
If the final is described as a confrontation between Europe's strongest attack and the most solid defense, it also reflects the difference in the way the two teams prepare for the season.
PSG can rotate their forces regularly in Ligue 1 without affecting the championship race. Meanwhile, Arsenal must maintain maximum intensity almost throughout the season to compete in the Premier League.
The Gunners' ideal starting lineup includes David Raya, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres almost had to play continuously in the decisive period.
Conversely, many PSG stars are heavily controlled in terms of playing volume. Marquinhos, the player with the most appearances in PSG history, has only appeared 14 times in Ligue 1 this season and started in just 3 matches since the beginning of March.
Dembele has also only started 11 matches in the domestic league and has only played a full 90 minutes once. Kvaratskhelia has also only completed 3 full matches in Ligue 1 since joining the team. Therefore, many PSG stars enter the Champions League with almost optimal physical condition.
If only looking at Ligue 1, this season can be considered one of PSG's least convincing championships in many years. Luis Enrique's team won the lowest score of a French champion since 2003 (excluding the season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic). They also only scored 74 goals in the domestic league, significantly lower than many previous seasons.
However, PSG shows a completely different face in the Champions League. The French team successively scored 5 goals against Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Tottenham. This shows that the Champions League is truly Luis Enrique's top priority.
Not only benefiting from the squad depth, PSG also received significant support from the schedule. Ligue 1 has agreed to let PSG postpone some domestic matches to create maximum conditions for the Champions League knockout matches.
The match against Lens was postponed, giving PSG a full week off between the two quarter-final matches with Liverpool. A similar situation also occurred before the match against Chelsea when the match against Nantes was postponed.
Meanwhile, Arsenal does not have the same privilege and is forced to maintain a dense schedule in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
For many years, the not-too-high quality of Ligue 1 has often been seen as the reason why PSG faces difficulties when entering the European arena.
They are constantly eliminated by big teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea or Manchester City. However, under Luis Enrique, the situation has completely changed.
PSG no longer depends on superstars, instead operating as an energetic team, well prepared both tactically and physically for big matches.
The level difference in the domestic league helps PSG have more time to rotate, rest and focus all their strength on the Champions League.
That is why Arsenal will face an extremely difficult challenge in Budapest, where PSG not only possesses superior squad quality but also enters the final with an ideal physical foundation much better than the opponent.
The match between PSG and Arsenal takes place at 11:00 PM on May 30 (Vietnam time).
