Timber Cleared to Start Champions League Final for Arsenal
Mikel Arteta will walk into Saturday’s Champions League final with one of his biggest selection headaches suddenly eased. Jurrien Timber, out since March with a groin injury, has been declared fit to start against Paris St-Germain in Budapest.
For weeks, right-back looked like the one crack in Arsenal’s armour. Ben White’s knee ligament injury stripped Arteta of his most trusted option on that flank, forcing a reshuffle that never quite felt permanent. Spain centre-back Cristhian Mosquera has been pushed wide, while Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice have both filled in from midfield when needed.
Now Timber is back, and not just as a late cameo. Arteta made it clear: the Dutch defender is ready to start. Timber has been pictured in full training in Budapest, moving freely as Arsenal sharpen their plans to dethrone Luis Enrique’s reigning champions.
The timing could hardly be sharper. PSG exposed Arsenal down the sides in last season’s semi-final, knocking them out and underlining the gulf that still existed on the biggest stage. This time, Arsenal arrive as Premier League champions, armed with a title that has ended a 22-year wait and changed the way this team is viewed across Europe.
Arteta, though, wants no sense of satisfaction creeping in.
“No, the ambition is bigger, we have one [trophy] and we want the second one,” the Spaniard said, batting away any notion that the pressure has eased now the league is in the bag. For him, the title is not a destination. It is a launchpad.
“There has to be a platform to reach bigger destinations and to aim for more,” he added. The message to his players is simple: this is not bonus football. This is the standard now.
The mood around the squad matches that tone. Noni Madueke, who limped off with a hamstring issue against Crystal Palace last weekend, has also been passed fit and is available for selection. Another piece back in place. Another attacking weapon for a night when every sprint, every one-on-one, will matter.
Arteta has leaned heavily on the evidence of recent seasons in Europe, reminding his squad of what they have already produced in this competition and insisting they carry that belief into the final.
“The team is capable because they have shown it in the last seasons [in] this competition, what we have done this season in the competition. I want the players to be so confident that we are going to go and do it.”
Across the halfway line stands the favourite. PSG arrive as defending champions, chasing history of their own as they look to become only the second team in the Champions League era to win back-to-back titles. They know this stage. They know this pressure. And they know Arsenal, having knocked them out 12 months ago.
That semi-final still lingers in the background. Same opponent, higher stakes, a very different Arsenal. Arteta’s side are no longer the hungry outsiders trying to crash the party. They are champions of England, expected to compete, expected to threaten, expected to believe.
PSG carry the status. Arsenal carry the challenge.
“They are defending the trophy and they are the champions and we are here to take that away from them,” Arteta said.
Timber fit. Madueke ready. A title already in the bag and a chance to rip the crown from Europe’s current rulers. For Arsenal, this is no victory lap. It is a shot at something bigger.
