In the low hills outside Budapest, a collection of Soviet-era statues, removed from the city centre when the Iron Curtain fell, shimmer in the baking sun. Here is a line of workers' faces, hewn into stone. Here is a sailor, chiselled face turned towards the sky. And here is a likeness of Lenin, stern and forbidding.
In another part of Memento Park, a giant likeness of a soldier striding into battle, arm aloft and grasping a flag that trails behind him as if in a stiff breeze, dominates the skyline. Disobedient Hungarians nicknamed it 'The Cloakroom Attendant' and said it looked as if the subject were running after someone, saying: 'You forgot your scarf.' The collection is intended as a reminder of the ephemerality of empires. When one falls or fades, another rises.
And if it is not politics that has brought Arsenal and their army of fans here, it is the hope of overthrow. It is the hope that on the banks of the Danube, they can establish themselves as European football's new power. Arsenal were 11th in the Premier League when Mikel Arteta took over as manager in December 2019 and had fallen even further from the summit of the European game. But he has built them back up and led them to the Premier League title. Now they have a shot at the biggest prize of all.
Arteta denied it when he sat in front of the media at the Ferenc Puskas Arena on Friday afternoon, but something about him and his players has changed since they won the title. There was a secret in their eyes until they beat Manchester City to the trophy, but now they have banished any doubt. They have banished wondering. They have shut people up. They are free.
'The ambition is bigger now,' Arteta said. 'We have won and now we want the second one. We have to aim for bigger destinations. I want the players to be so confident. The players want more. Going through those moments brings you a different kind of desire. You feel what it is like to win and you want to reproduce that feeling as often as possible.'
It is a great omission in Arsenal's proud history that they have never lifted the most prestigious prize in the club game, not in the competition's previous incarnation as the European Cup, nor as the Champions League. A clutch of England's greatest clubs, Manchester United, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Chelsea and City have all done it, but never Arsenal. They have come this far once before, 20 years ago. On that occasion, they travelled to Paris and lost to Barcelona in the final, a game best remembered for goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's early red card.
This time, Paris is part of their story again. This time, it is Paris Saint-Germain, the holders, the best club side in the world, who stand between Arteta's players and immortality. 'Arsenal are a giant of English football,' former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher wrote this week. 'But they remain European minnows until they win the Champions League. No club can join the pantheon of Europe's footballing legends without the greatest prize.'
This is Arsenal's opportunity to put that right, but PSG present a formidable obstacle. They have shown time and again that they are a wonderful team, capable of sweeping opponents aside. They boast the Ballon d'Or winner, Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha, the best holding midfielder in the world, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, sublime and mercurial, and Nuno Mendes, the best left back in the world. Their 5-4 victory over Bayern Munich in the first leg of the semi-final at the Parc des Princes last month was one of the great Champions League ties of all-time, but Arsenal have a better defence than the Germans.
They are not built to go toe-to-toe with PSG, but they are built to frustrate them and break their hearts. Most people expect PSG to win, but most expect it to be close. Most expect Arsenal's redoubtable defence to keep the French champions at bay, but for Luis Enrique's team to find a way through in the end. The odds are against Arsenal, but winning the biggest prizes is never easy. Even if they are not favourites, they certainly have the ability to summon a shock.
Arteta said Jurrien Timber, who has been out for two months with injury, is fit to return at right back. With Timber's replacement, Ben White, absent himself, that is a huge fillip, although whether they will trust the Dutch defender to start after such a long time out is open to question. Arsenal will be used to the idea of being underdogs. They spent much of the Premier League season being damned with faint praise and compared unfavourably to City. The same theme applies now. PSG are cast as the team of all the talents. Arsenal are workhorses, sent to Budapest as stooges to amplify the brilliance of their opponents.
Arsenal are a lot better than that. Bukayo Saka is their most potent offensive force and his battle with Nuno Mendes will be one of the decisive confrontations of the evening. Declan Rice has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world. This will be the ultimate test of that status. Psychology may work in Arsenal's favour, too. For much of the second half of the season, they played as if the weight of repeated domestic failures hung heavily around their shoulders. They knew that many expected — and wanted — them to choke and they played with a grim determination not to let that happen. But when City could only draw at Bournemouth on May 19, confirming the Gunners as champions, that weight left them. They were released. They no longer carry that burden.
And so even though the Champions League is the greatest club prize of all, they will go into today's game with the attitude of men for whom this is a free hit. They would have been ridiculed if they had failed to win the Premier League, but that is over. They passed the test. Now they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Win this and they will be immortals, just like the Invincibles team of 2003-04 and the double-winning sides of 1971, 1998 and 2002. This double, of Premier League and Champions League, would make them the greatest side in the club's history.
Everywhere, there are themes of new beginnings with Arsenal. 'I knew we were a sleeping giant that we needed to awaken in some way,' Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke said this week. Martin Keown, one of Arsenal's great defenders, said he felt defeat to Barcelona in 2006 was the end of an era, but that this match will be a new beginning. Arsenal's intent is clear — they are here to tear down old idols, sweep away empires and establish a new order in football. 'We have the opportunity to write a new chapter,' Arteta said. 'We have to play with clarity, courage and desire to win. They are the champions and we are here to take that away from them.'
