Champions League
PSG and Arsenal are through. Bukayo Saka turned home a Trossard rebound at 44 minutes to send the Gunners to their first Champions League final in twenty years (1-0 on the night, 2-1 aggregate over Atlético). Ousmane Dembélé's third-minute goal at the Allianz proved decisive for PSG (1-1, 6-5 agg). The final lands at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on 30 May.
Europe's elite competition — covered with the tactical depth the chess matches at the top of the continent demand.
How they got here
Match breakdowns from the two semi-final second legs that set the Final
Bayern Munich 
Paris Saint-Germain Ousmane Dembélé scored after one hundred and eighty seconds and PSG defended that goal for the next eighty-seven minutes. Bayern dominated possession (66%), shots (18 to 15) and xG (1.41 to 1.06) — every column except the one that decides who books a flight to Budapest.
READ THE MATCH BREAKDOWN
Arsenal 
Atlético Madrid Bukayo Saka's 44'-minute rebound finish sends Arsenal to their first Champions League final in twenty years. Atlético's 0.53 xG was the lowest by any side in the entire knockout phase.
READ THE MATCH BREAKDOWNKnockout Bracket
As of 13 Jun 2026
Galatasaray v 
Liverpool Liverpool 1-4 
Newcastle v 
Barcelona Barcelona 3-8 
Atalanta v Bayern München Bayern München 2-10 Atletico Madrid v 
Tottenham Atletico Madrid 7-5 
Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal Arsenal 1-3 
Chelsea 
Bodo/Glimt v 
Sporting CP Sporting CP 3-5 
Real Madrid v 
Manchester City Real Madrid 5-1 Sporting CP v Arsenal Arsenal 0-1 Real Madrid v Bayern München Bayern München 4-6 Liverpool Barcelona v Atletico Madrid Atletico Madrid 2-3 Bayern München Atletico Madrid v Arsenal Arsenal 1-2 
Real Madrid 
Bayern München 
Paris Saint Germain 
Atletico Madrid 
Newcastle Paris Saint Germain 
Bayern München 
Paris Saint Germain 
Bodo/Glimt 
Real Madrid Paris Saint Germain 1-1 Arsenal 30 May Bayern München 1-1 Paris Saint Germain 6 May Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid 5 May Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal 29 Apr Paris Saint Germain 5-4 Bayern München 28 Apr Arsenal 0-0 Sporting CP 15 Apr Bayern München 4-3 Real Madrid 15 Apr Champions League Coverage
10 piecesPSG vs Arsenal, UCL Final: the question is which side gets asked the question that doesn't suit them
A side whose strength is not conceding meets a side whose strength is transitioning when the opponent commits. Arsenal arrive in Budapest with 0.53 xG conceded across the semi-final 2nd leg — the lowest by any team in the entire knockout phase. PSG arrive on a 6-5 aggregate win over Bayern that doubled as a defensive declaration. Whichever side is forced into the wrong question — Arsenal asked to chase, PSG asked to defend a lead — loses.
Bayern 1-1 PSG: the tie was over after 180 seconds
Ousmane Dembélé scored in the third minute at the Allianz, and from that point Bayern had ninety minutes to score twice against a side that doesn't concede twice. They couldn't. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was the best player on the pitch on a night PSG were just better. On aggregate 6-5, they face Arsenal at the Puskás Aréna on 30 May.
Arsenal 1-0 Atlético: Twenty years closed in 90 minutes
One Trossard shot, one Oblak parry, one Saka finish at the stroke of half-time. Arsenal's first Champions League final since 2006 was sealed not by the chaos this competition has so often demanded, but by the discipline they've built all season — a single moment of quality, then ninety minutes of doing everything else right. Budapest awaits.
Arsenal vs Atlético, 2nd leg: a tie poised between set-pieces and Simeone's fortress
Level on aggregate after a 1-1 in Madrid where the underlying numbers said Atlético deserved more — out-shooting Arsenal 18-11 with the woodwork, a VAR review and a sharp Raya keeping the away side level. Now the Emirates leg, with a Simeone team perfectly comfortable defending one moment of quality for ninety minutes. The route to Budapest is one set-piece, one transition, or one penalty-area mistake from being decided.
Bayern vs PSG, 2nd leg: defending a one-goal lead in Munich is its own kind of test
The 5-4 Parisian thriller at the Parc des Princes was the most chaotic semi-final 1st leg in a decade. The 2nd leg cannot, and will not, be like that. PSG bring a one-goal cushion to an Allianz where Kompany's positional press has built the Bundesliga title. The asymmetry of what each side actually needs may be the most telling thing about the next 90 minutes.
Atlético 1-1 Arsenal: A draw the underlying numbers don't endorse
Arsenal leave the Metropolitano with the away-leg parity they wanted on the scoreboard. The shot map, the corner count, the cancelled penalty at 80' — every other layer of the data argues this was Atlético's night, decided by Oblak, the woodwork, and the VAR booth in Madrid.
PSG 5-4 Bayern: The night Manuel Neuer didn't make a save
Bayern out-shot, out-passed, out-possessed PSG and won the expected-goals battle by 1.16. They lost 5-4. The hinge isn't tactical complexity — it's that every PSG shot on target became a goal, and Manuel Neuer registered zero saves. The most interesting line in the data sheet is the empty cell.
PSG Without Mbappé — A New Identity, or Just a New Problem?
A continental treble in May, a Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, a six-point lead at the top of Ligue 1. The most expensive forward of the last decade left for free in 2024 and PSG have been better since. The football is more cohesive, less individual, and — for the first time in a long while — recognisable as something.
Bayern Munich 4-3 Real Madrid: A Camavinga Red Card and Two Late Bayern Goals That Ended an Era
Arda Güler scored after thirty-five seconds. Madrid led 3-2 going into the final quarter-hour. Then Camavinga was sent off, Luis Díaz equalised at 89, and Olise scored in stoppage time to send Bayern through 6-4 on aggregate. The night that may, in retrospect, define the post-Mbappé Real Madrid project.
Why Football Needs to Protect Its Domestic Leagues — Before They Become Feeder Competitions
The 36-club Champions League, the billion-dollar Club World Cup, and the post-ECJ Super League legal landscape are all pulling football's centre of gravity away from the leagues that built the sport. The Eredivisie, Liga Portuguesa, Belgian Pro League, and Scottish Premiership are not minor casualties of that drift. They are the cultural foundation.
The Tactical Story Right Now
Arsenal's two-legged blueprint — control without territorial dominance, concede 0.53 xG, take one chance — meets PSG's transition juggernaut. Both finalists arrive in Budapest with the data argument for their identity intact. Whoever's forced into the wrong question (Arsenal asked to chase, PSG asked to defend a lead) loses.
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Match-by-match tactical breakdowns from Champions League — straight to your inbox the morning after each leg.