Champions League final: Why Paris St-Germain could have edge over Arsenal
Some figures for individual players are noteworthy.
Marquinhos, captain of Les Parisiens, started in 14 of the European matches; This is the same as the total number of matches he played in the league (11 starts, three as substitutes).
From February 13 to April 19, the decorated Brazilian defender did not play a single minute in the league, remaining an unused substitute in seven consecutive matches. During this time, he played every minute of the champions’ six Champions League matches.
Ballon d’Or owner Ousmane Dembele could only play 90 minutes once in 22 league matches. Fellow striker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made just two appearances in 28 matches during this period.
On 12 May, Dembele controversially won the Ligue 1 player of the season award for the second consecutive year, recording 10 goals and 7 assists.
He started just 11 league matches (nine at the time of the award), appearing in 22 of a possible 34 in total, but successive injury problems caused him to miss 10 of them.
Luis Enrique’s rotation policy (using 28 players in league matches compared to Arteta’s 25) came at a cost, although it was not a significant one.
Three of the six league defeats (against Marseille in September, Monaco in November and Lyon in April) came on the heels of Champions League ties.
Midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery has played more league minutes than anyone else in the PSG squad, with 2,453 minutes. Six Arsenal players have stepped up more than that.
The idea that England’s top flight is the best in Europe doesn’t just stem from Anglo-centric bias; UEFA’s club coefficients rank the Premier League as the continent’s top league and Ligue 1 fifth.
It must be said that PSG played a massive 58 games last season en route to a spectacular four-cup success that included their first Champions League success by defeating Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. Ligue 1’s season is four games shorter than the Premier League due to its 18-team format.
Whatever happens, Arsenal’s key players are undoubtedly making a change. Goalkeeper David Raya played every minute of the season until he was rested on the final day against Crystal Palace with the title in the bag.
Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel and Martin Zubimendi have also made at least 30 league appearances for the North London club, something only Zaire-Emery can say about their rivals (the Gunners’ Jurrien Timber, who has been injured since mid-March and remains a major doubt for the final, still managed more minutes than him).
Only two of the 10 players who have spent the most minutes in the league for both clubs this season, Zaire-Emery and Illia Zabarnyi, play for the Paris team.
