Arsenal’s starting XI for the 2006 Champions League final boasted a wealth of talent.
Riding high from their recent Premier League title triumph, Arsenal now have the opportunity to etch their names in history as they prepare to face Paris St-Germain at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on Saturday.
Should Mikel Arteta lead his team to Champions League victory, he will have accomplished a feat that eluded even the legendary Arsene Wenger. The Gunners’ sole previous appearance in the final of Europe’s premier club competition was two decades ago, when they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Barcelona, playing with ten men.
Wenger’s 2006 squad featured several members of the ‘Invincibles’ who famously went undefeated in the 2003-04 Premier League season, including iconic figures like Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole, and Cesc Fabregas.
Arsenal’s remarkable run to the 2006 final in Paris, characterized by ten consecutive clean sheets, remains a record in European competition, as they overcame formidable opponents such as Real Madrid, Juventus, and Villarreal.
How does Arteta’s current squad compare? BBC Sport offers a comparative analysis of both teams.
You can use our selector to choose which Arsenal players from the 2006 team would make it into the current squad.
2006
Former Germany international Jens Lehmann played 200 times for Arsenal, including every game of their ‘Invincibles’ season.
His evening in Paris was cut short after only 18 minutes when he was sent off for fouling Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o, forcing Wenger to bring on Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.
2026
David Raya is in the running for Arsenal’s player of the season 2025-26, after the Spanish stopper kept 19 clean sheets in the Premier League to win his third golden glove in a row.
2006
Following a controversial move from Tottenham in 2001, Sol Campbell won two league titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal, even scoring in the 2006 Champions League final.
Alongside him was Ivorian Kolo Toure – transformed by Wenger from a central midfielder into one of the league’s best centre-backs.
Both played important roles in Arsenal’s ‘Invincible’ season.
At right-back, Ivorian Emmanuel Eboue was a popular player at Arsenal under Wenger, playing 214 times between 2005 and 2011.
Meanwhile, Cole is widely regarded as one of the best left-backs in Premier League history. He was a member of the Gunners’ ‘Invincibles’ in 2003-04, as well as the Chelsea team that scored a then-record 103 goals in 2009-10.
2026
For Arteta’s side, French centre-back William Saliba is a consistent performer and was voted into the Professional Footballers’ Association team of the year in each of the three seasons between 2023 and 2025.
Alongside him, Gabriel is also in contention for Arsenal’s player of the season. As well as being solid in defence, he contributed seven goals (three goals, four assists) in the Premier League.
Since 2000, the pair are second only to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in terms of Premier League partnerships with the most clean sheets.
With Ben White injured, Arsenal fans will be hoping that Dutch defender Jurrien Timber recovers from injury in time to play right-back against PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Arteta has several options at left-back and has rotated between Italian full-back Riccardo Calafiori, Ecuadorian defender Piero Hincapie and academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly.
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‘It’s been written’ – Arsenal players look ahead to Champions League final
2006
Arsenal’s midfield five for the 2006 Champions League final featured Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winner Gilberto Silva in the holding role, nicknamed “the invisible wall”.
Next to him in central midfield was Spanish playmaker Cesc Fabregas – who provided 111 assists and scored 50 goals in 350 Premier League appearances for Arsenal and Chelsea.
Fabregas, then 19, was selected in Uefa’s 2006 team of the year.
On the wings for Wenger’s side were Belarusian midfielder Alexander Hleb and Frenchman Robert Pires.
Hleb scored seven goals and assisted 10 in 89 Premier League appearances for Arsenal between 2005-08. Pires won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France and won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups during six years at Arsenal.
In front of them, playing behind lone striker Thierry Henry, was Freddie Ljungberg.
The Swedish winger was named as Arsenal’s 11th greatest player of all time in 2017, external.
2026
The mainstay in Arteta’s midfield this season has been box-to-box player Declan Rice, who has driven their title challenge with his energy, work rate and ability from set-pieces.
Rice came second in this year’s Football Writers’ Awards list, behind Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.
Rice posted the highest expected assists from set-pieces (3.3) in the Premier League this season, with only Fernandes and Tottenham right-back Pedro Porro playing more passes into the penalty area.
Playing alongside the England international, there are options in Lewis-Skelly, deep-lying Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi and Norwegian playmaker Martin Odegaard.
Odegaard has had a couple of inconsistent seasons, often due to injury, but possesses a rare ability to weave his way through opposition defences and pick out the perfect pass.
2006
Wenger played Thierry Henry as a lone striker in 2006. The Frenchman is often regarded as one of the best players to ever play in the Premier League.
He scored a club record 228 goals in 377 matches for Arsenal in two spells, won the Premier League Golden Boot a record-equalling four times and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six seasons in a row.
2026
Arteta has generally favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation this season, with Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard playing as a three behind a lone striker. Saka is an academy product – named Arsensal’s player of the year in both 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Eze provides an attacking threat and scores important goals – including the one that helped deliver Crystal Palace’s first major trophy in last year’s FA Cup final.
Meanwhile, Trossard is Arsenal’s leading player in the Premier League this season for assists, with six in 31 appearances.
Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres‘ 21 goals in all competitions this season, including five in the Champions League, have been crucial in helping Arsenal win the Premier League and reach their first Champions League final in two decades.
German forward Kai Havertz has been injured for much of the season, but has featured recently with a goal and assist in his past two Premier League matches and could start against PSG.
The most iconic Champions League final performances ranked
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