Top News

The North London giants, who clinched the Premier League title last week as part of their 2025/26 English top-flight campaign, still have one major challenge remaining this season.

Arsenal are set to feature in their first Champions League final since 2006, where they will take on defending champions Paris Saint-Germain this weekend.

The Gunners have never lifted Europe’s most prestigious club trophy, having fallen short in the 2006 final with a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona. Now, their quest for continental glory might be complicated by the potential absence of a key figure.

The upcoming clash against PSG carries an added layer of rivalry for Mikel Arteta’s squad, as the two sides met last season, with the Ligue 1 champions ultimately prevailing.

In that previous encounter, the French club advanced from the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate score, thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembele, Achraf Hakimi and Fabian Ruiz across both legs.

Arsenal booked their place in the final after overcoming Atletico Madrid 2-1 on aggregate in their semi-final duel. However, the second-leg fixture was marred by a heated exchange between sporting director Andrea Berta and Atletico manager Diego Simeone.

The Premier League champions secured a 1-0 win in that match, but tension flared late in the game when Berta and Simeone clashed on the touchline. The Atletico boss stepped out of his technical area and appeared to push the Arsenal director.

During the closing minutes, Berta was seen appealing to the referee to blow the final whistle as Arsenal worked to preserve their narrow lead. This seemed to anger Simeone, who approached Berta aggressively, prompting a brief confrontation that required staff intervention.

Fortunately, the scuffle did not escalate beyond verbal and minor physical contact, as other team officials quickly diffused the situation. Berta, however, was visibly animated, gesturing and shouting in Simeone’s direction while being restrained.

Given the relatively low severity of the incident, it is considered unlikely that Berta’s actions will result in a stadium ban. As such, the Italian executive is expected to be on the sidelines when Arsenal take on PSG in Budapest.

Disciplinary sanctions of this nature are uncommon for club officials, with one notable precedent being Jose Mourinho’s stadium ban in 2015 following his verbal tirade at referee Jon Moss. Unless it emerges that Berta’s comments matched that level of misconduct or Simeone lodges an official complaint, Arsenal’s sporting director should be free to attend the final and witness his side’s bid for their first-ever Champions League triumph.