Timber Cleared to Start Champions League Final for Arsenal

Mikel Arteta will walk into the biggest night of his managerial career with a major defensive boost – and a statement of intent.

Jurrien Timber, 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 looked like Arsenal’s soft spot. Now, on the eve of facing the reigning champions in Budapest, the Spaniard has his first-choice option back.

Timber’s absence since the win over Everton had forced Arteta into a reshuffle. Ben White’s knee ligament injury stripped him of the other natural right-back, leaving Spain centre-back Cristhian Mosquera to plug the gap. At times, even midfield anchors Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice were dragged out of their usual zones to cover the flank.

It worked. Just about. But it was never the long-term plan.

Now Timber has been back on the training pitch in Budapest, a timely sight for a squad preparing for a final against Luis Enrique’s slick, seasoned PSG side. Arteta has seen enough to trust him from the start.

The positive news did not stop there. Noni Madueke, who limped off with a hamstring issue in the win over Crystal Palace last weekend, is also available. Another key attacking option, restored just in time.

Any suggestion that Arsenal might approach this final with a sense of “job done” after ending their 22-year wait for a Premier League title was brushed aside by Arteta. He made it clear: this is not a lap of honour.

“The ambition is bigger, we have one [trophy] and we want the second one,” he said, underlining the internal message that the league win is a launchpad, not a destination. The manager spoke of a “platform to reach bigger destinations and to aim for more,” pointing to the team’s consistency in Europe over recent seasons and their run in this year’s competition as proof they belong on this stage.

He wants his players to carry that belief into the final. “I want the players to be so confident that we are going to go and do it,” he said, stripping away any hint of underdog rhetoric despite the bookmakers’ view.

PSG arrive as favourites, and with good reason. They knocked Arsenal out in last season’s semi-finals and are chasing history, looking to become only the second club to win back-to-back titles in the Champions League era. They know this terrain. They know how to suffer and still advance.

Arsenal know the scars. That semi-final defeat still lingers, shaping the edge with which they have approached this campaign. The roles are clear: PSG defend their crown; Arsenal try to rip it from their hands.

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

Fit again, reinforced, and with a title already in the bag, Arsenal step into Budapest not to celebrate what they’ve done, but to see how far they can push the ceiling.