Arteta Puts Faith in Timber for Arsenal's Champions League Final Against PSG

Mikel Arteta will put his faith in Jurrien Timber on the biggest stage of all. The Dutch defender, sidelined since March with a groin injury, has been declared fit to start Saturday’s Champions League final against Paris St‑Germain.

For weeks, right-back had loomed as Arsenal’s one glaring fault line. Ben White’s knee ligament injury stripped Arteta of his most reliable option. The solution since then has been a patchwork of improvisation: centre-back Cristhian Mosquera pushed wide, midfield anchors Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice shunted into unfamiliar territory when needed.

Now, on the eve of a final in Budapest, the manager gets his specialist back.

Timber has trained fully with the squad in Hungary, a timely sight for a team that has already emptied itself in the pursuit of a first Premier League title in 22 years and now stands one win from a remarkable double.

There was another boost. Noni Madueke, who limped off with a hamstring issue in the win over Crystal Palace last weekend, is also available. For a match that will demand pace, incision and relentless pressing, his presence in the squad matters.

Any suggestion that Arsenal might treat this as a free hit after ending their long wait for the league was briskly swept aside by Arteta. The trophy cabinet may finally have a new domestic crown, but the Spaniard made it clear that the hunger inside his dressing room has only sharpened.

“The ambition is bigger, we have one [trophy] and we want the second one,” he said, framing the Premier League as a launchpad rather than a destination. This, in his eyes, is not a season to be admired from a distance. It is a season to be completed.

He pointed to the team’s growth in Europe, to what they have already shown “in the last seasons [in] this competition” and in this campaign’s run, as evidence that they belong on this stage. The message to his players is simple and stripped of doubt: he wants them “so confident that we are going to go and do it.”

Standing in their way are the holders. PSG arrive as favourites, and not just because they are champions of Europe. Luis Enrique’s side knocked Arsenal out in last year’s semi-finals and have spent the season playing with the assurance of a group that knows exactly how to navigate these nights.

They are chasing history of their own, attempting to become only the second team to win back-to-back titles in the Champions League era. That status, Arteta insists, only sharpens Arsenal’s focus.

“They are defending the trophy and they are the champions and we are here to take that away from them,” he said.

So the stage is set: the reigning kings of Europe, the newly crowned champions of England, and a right-back who hasn’t played since March stepping back into the fire.

If Arsenal do prise the trophy from PSG’s grip, it will not just confirm their rise. It will redraw the map of European power for the seasons to come.