UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL.

IN the eyes of the masses, Arsenal head into this weekend’s Champions League final as underdogs.

Paris Saint-Germain’s immense attacking talent, coupled with their success in last year’s final, has most fans confident that the Frenchmen will leave Budapest with the trophy in hand once again. PSG’s star-studded squad will be well-rested for this weekend’s final in BudapestCredit: Getty However, Arsenal should be concerned not only with the PSG squad’s ability but also with their physical state.

Remarkably, Luis Enrique’s side has played only a fraction of the minutes that Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have played over the course of the season.

Despite both teams lifting their domestic league title, Arsenal had to push their squad much harder to do so.

PSG boss Enrique has been able to limit his star players to sporadic action to keep them fit and fresh. Ousmane Dembele was named Ligue 1 Player of the Season this term, having made just 11 STARTS for PSG in the league.

During the campaign, the current Ballon d’Or holder racked up just 1,063 league minutes and has totalled 2,110 across all competitions.

By comparison, Arsenal star Declan Rice has started 35 league games and played an astonishing 3,099 minutes in the Premier League alone.

Considering all competitions, Rice has been on the pitch for 4,336 minutes – more than DOUBLE what Dembele has amassed. The stark comparisons don’t stop there either.

PSG’s three other attacking stars, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola, and Desire Doue, have all played under 3,000 minutes across all competitions.

By comparison, Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze have all notched well over the 3,000-minute mark.

If you look at the expected starting XIs for both sides in Saturday’s final, Arsenal’s marathon men blow away PSG when it comes to minutes played.

Assuming Enrique fields his strongest possible XI and injury doubts favour him, PSG’s starting XI will have played a total of 32,115 minutes across all competitions.

Mikel Arteta’s expected starting XI, meanwhile, will have tallied an incredible 37,664 minutes this season.

That difference of 5,544 minutes equates to 62 MORE GAMES for the Gunners.

Will Arsenal’s consistent tempo of high-intensity games give them the advantage?

Or will PSG benefit from a squad with properly managed minutes that should feel refreshed and energised in the latter stages of the game?

Earlier this month, Arteta said that PSG and Bayern Munich’s 5-4 semi-final thriller was due to their ability to better distribute minutes across the squad on the continent.

The Arsenal chief said: “To deliver that much quality you have to be very fresh, and the difference in the leagues and the way they are competing is night and day.

“You just have to see a lot of stats around it. We are comparing two different worlds.

“The quality of the two teams [PSG and Bayern], and especially the individual quality of players, I have never seen something like this. “But when I look at the amount of minutes and the freshness of those players, I’m not surprised.