Confidence Is Everything! Why Arsenal Can Beat PSG In The Final (Live from Budapest)

We are here in Hungary, in Budapest, ready for the Champions League final.In the background there is the Puskás Arena.Now, this is as close as we can get.They've been very, very strict.They're not letting us go beyond those gates, but that is the Puskás Arena.That is where the final is going to be taking place, right?

Really funny encounter just a minute ago.An Atletico Madrid fan came up.He was wishing us luck, so I big him up, but I asked him a question.How come you're here then?Did you buy a ticket early because you thought Atletico might get to the final?He paused, laughed, and said, yeah.

He did.He thought Atletico were going to get it, so he bought a ticket.I don't want to get the ticket off him.I could have got a ticket.But to be fair to him, he wants Arsenal to win.But here it is, the Puskas Arena.

You know what?You're always throwing out little quizzes.Pause.

You're not in this quiz right now because you might get this, right?

Let me test your ball knowledge.Let me test and find out.Good luck.How your history is.Puskas.Who was Puskas?

He was a famous player for Real Madrid and there was obviously a Puskas award.

No, no.Who's Puskas?Real Madrid and who?What was he famous about?

He scored an unbelievable goal in, I forgot, what tournament was it?Was it the...Oh, I should know this.World Cup.And now there's an award over him.That's after his name.

Puskas.Puskas award.Come on bro, trust me.Come on, I've done a little bit, a little tiny bit.

What it is, Vimy, is putting little two and twos together, right?Let me explain who Puskas was.Puskas at the time, footballer, played in the 1950s, Hungarian, right?Did go on to play for Real Madrid, you are correct.Was deemed at the time the best player in the world.in the world.

He would have been the equivalent to Messi, Ronaldo.He would have been the equivalent to Maradona, Pelé.He was the guy at the time in the 50s, obviously from this country, Hungary, very, very famous.And you're right, they named the Puskas Award after him because of the amount of goals he scored.He literally scored a goal nearly every game, every time he played for Hungary.So the stadium's named after him.

Very famous stadium.Capacity of the stadium?Yeah, there we go.There we go.Well done.I'm hesitant to guess 67 ,000.

Spot on.He's done his research.

How many Champions Leagues have been played here?Both of you?Finals?Finals?1, 2, 1, 2, 1.This is the first Champions League final.

I thought it was the first one.

Come on, boys!

Who plays in this stadium?

Look at me.

It's a national stadium.

I don't know.It's a national stadium for Hungary.It's a national stadium.He has a good information for you all.Anyway, right.We're here for the big game on Saturday.

Absolutely massive.Arsenal back in the Champions League.Just chatting to a gentleman over there, a big Arsenal fan, giving us a great story about how his son.

Yeah.

You know, they managed to get into the ground early in the last Champions League final in 2006.And you showed me a picture of his son with Victor Valdez.He was playing ball boy for Victor Valdez at the time with Barcelona.And they did get in, but they were in the Barcelona end.Yeah, they walked in.

Imagine that, no tickets, walking around a stadium and just walked into the...So we can't even get past the gates.

Listen, this is big.This is big this weekend.I was at the last Champions League final and it was heartbreak.This is a big one for Arsenal.These players, they've won illegally.Can they go another step even better and do the double, the ultimate double you can do?

in football, which is the league and the Champions League?

Yeah, listen, I can only go on how I feel.I feel like there's a weight being lifted and I'm not even a player, you know what I mean?So those players were playing under unbelievable pressure, pressure put onto them by other fans, the media, social media, whatever, and don't think that they don't know, because you can tell when the celebrations come out, they've sort of expressed a lot of that.So from my point of view now, I feel relieved, I feel light, I sleep a lot better at night every week now, and I'm looking forward to it, so if I'm doing that, surely they are, and I feel that we can go into this final with a little bit of pressure off of us, and that might be the key.That might be the key.I will say this, if we hadn't won the league, I would have said there's no chance of winning this with all the pressure and everything like that.

Pressure's relieved now.They've had a couple of good days celebrating it over the weekend.Reset.Now, I fancy us, I'm not going to lie.

Do you think them celebrations might have affected them?I mean, listen, they've been celebrating hard.

And rightly so, rightly so.It's affecting me.

It's affecting me as well.I haven't slept a proper night's sleep in ages.Do you think it would have affected them or do you think like what Lee said actually will have the effect of they're winners now.I mean they'll have that belief and they're coming up against a team that they did play in the semi -final last year so they are slightly familiar with them.

I think like Lee said it's a weight lift off their shoulders.Obviously the club aren't happy with that.the video that got leaked of Mikel saying, and next will be a Champions of Europe.I actually don't mind that.He's confident.He's putting confidence into the team.

And I feel that comes from a place of, we can go on and do this.That wasn't fake confidence because obviously they didn't want it to go out.It's just something that's internal at the party.So I think he believes that.I think he has a weight lifted.The players are in tune on what's going on.

They did a bottle celebration.You seeBen White, Denis Capier trying to pull his shorts down.They're locked into what's been going on.They understand the pressure from social media and the media.But I feel like now, like you said, they're going to come here not on a party vibe because nothing's won.

This is a serious game.But I think it's a lot more reserved.The players weren't walking around the stadium at 5 a .m.after they won the league again.They had a little celebration.

Now I reckon they're back to full minds on this, full focus on the Champions League.And I believe, they're believing, that this is a possible trophy to pick up.They understand the magnitude of it as well, it being the only time Arsenal could potentially, well, the first time Arsenal win a Champions League.So, yeah, Rob, I don't see it as a negative.Celebrate, enjoy, man.They're not robots.

These are young boys.

Listen, there should be a freshness to them because despite all the celebrations and that, you had some key players.Yeah, that's a great point.That didn't play.Yeah, that's true.On Sunday, you know what I mean?Declan Rice, not a minute, Saka, you know what I mean?

Players like that.Even the players that came on, you know, it was just part of the time.A little 15 -minute coasting.I mean, They should be in a good place for this final, shouldn't they?

Yeah, exactly that.And listen, this was all like rest that was unexpected.You know what I mean?They would have been planning to have played Sunday and then like, you know, full pelt and what would have happened would have happened.But what did happen was because of the results in the midweek, it meant that like, as you say, three or four of them had a good rest and that is, I think, key now.They're going into this game a little bit fresher, you know.

And I felt that a couple of the players produced good performances over the weekend to just remind them that they're good.That's what I liked about Sunday's performance.I know it weren't no pressure on it, but there were a few players there that, you know, Nona Madawaki being one of them.Martin Alley as well.Both said, look, you know, You know can call on me and I think that sometimes and I think this is a really good point this gameit could be set up for someone like Mahonelli because they come forward like, you know, I'm not saying he deserves to play over Trossard but it might be horses for courses.

I think that, you know, it could be that he goes with the more aggressive runners behind which would mean that Lloquerres would come into it as well.

Or you might see a Havertz, you might see, I think everyone, you never know what what he could select for this game, because there's plenty of options, like you said, they put themselves forward, there's enough quality in the scene.

Do you know what's a good thing?If you're Luis Enrique, who we all know is a class act, But he'd be sitting there going, right, who's playing up front?Who is the guy that's going to play up front for them?Who's the guy that's going to be the wide player?So I think that's the options we didn't have last season when we played these, Rob, you know what I mean?We've got options now where we had kids on the bench in the semi -final of the Champions League last season that never ever played for Arsenal.

Now you look at the bench, now you look at the the start of 11.You're not too sure what it's going to be and there's all positives there.

Yeah, and just going back to the fans again, right?Those players, obviously, they have seen what has gone on in London and around the world.Let's just say London, around the world, we've seen scenes in Kenya, in Indonesia, in America, everywhere, right?They would have seen that.And there's been a lot of talk this season about fans making players nervous.But this is the opposite now, isn't it?

They've now got the whole of this Arsenal fanbase 100 % behind them, 100 % pushing them.How important is that going to be for these players going into this game on the weekend?

Honestly, Rob, that's a fantastic point.I think because like you said,the likes of Wayne Rooney saying, I think it's Arsenal fans that are causing this, the pressure on them and they're not helping the situation.And now we've won it.It's the opposite now, isn't it?Yeah, exactly.

And I've seen Roy Keane saying, what happened to all the other fans?What happened to Liverpool?Why is the parades and scenes all like this for other clubs?I said, this is what this is.And people will say pressure, okay, of course, but We've said that on many videos.It's been 22 years, people.

We've been very patient, second three times in a row.But what I'm saying is this is now a positive...Yeah, effect on the team.

Positive thing now, because you've now...If you're going into battle and you know that you've got everybody behind you...Yeah.Everybody's saying, willing you to win this, not in a negative way.Everybody's right behind you.

I mean...It's that extra percent.It's that one, it's what Art Arteta looked for.That's what he asked for.He said, we're all as one, need the energy, need to be on fire when it comes to the fans.It will push us.

In my opinion, it could get us over the line.PSG are not going to be quiet.I'll just be aware of that.They are a massive fan base as well and they'll be loud and bouncing the whole time, but we'll be up for it as well.And we should be able to hopefully carry the team along as well.

I don't think it should be missed, right, that Declan Rice as a sacker and that come down to the stadium five o 'clock in the morning.Because they saw the scenes.Because they saw the scenes.Facts.They saw that.They'd have seen the scenes on Sunday.

You know what I mean?Everybody's seen the scenes on Sunday.So you look at that as a team, as a player, you want to see that more didn't you?10 minutes from the end, you're tired and all that.Just think of the energy, what it's going to be like on the Sunday.Get over the line on that.

What it's going to be like if we win on Saturday.

They'll be there all night.Imagine being a player.Imagine you being a player and we was at Crystal Palace.By like the 60th minute, Emirates was...You saw the videos.I don't know how they've been watching the game.

There was people there around the stadium at 60 minutes.

And a lot of people didn't see the trophy.

Well, that's the only negative for me, Rob.That's the only negative about being...So exuberant excited about this, you know weekfor the Premier League is the fact that there's no trophy lift.That's the only thing when it comes to Sunday.I know that's not involved in the game, but they're not doing that now because of how many numbers are going to be there.

You know, everyone keeps going on and on about the trophies.A parade's not always been about a trophy lift.Well, I don't know.If they win the Champions League as well, you're going to want to see them lift it though.Let's be real.But the main thing is people want to see the trophies.

And if you line that route, you'll be able to see the trophies.I think that's the important point to make here, right?And I'll tell you what, if they win that, that route that I see there, they might have to extend that, maybe make it go around the M25.They have extended it, as I said, they have extended it.Right around the M25, right?Right around London, right?

With everybody inside, because we've already taken over London.And I feel there's going to be a takeover of Budapest as well, right?The amount of fans that are coming here, they ain't even got tickets, right?I remember 2006 Paris, Arsenal outnumbered Barcelona 5 -1, I'm telling you, right?5 -1, right?And I get the feeling it's going to be like that again.

Like you said, PSG have got an excellent fan base, but it's not as big as Arsenal's.The amount of fans, even I saw today, and barely any of them had a ticket they said i just have to be here so it's going to be great over here we're really looking forward to it i'm not going to get into predictions and that yet because we're going to do that as we get closer to the game um but listen make sure you check out all of our content that we're going to be doing over here we've got it early because we want to give you guys a taste of a feel what it's going to be like here give me a feel of the vibes we're going to be down in the city center we're going to be at the fan parks we're going to be all over um budapest taking it all in and um hopefully you can take it in through us as well because you know we want to bring as much of this experience um as we can to you despite the fact that they've locked us out yeah but they've locked everybody out to be fair right so right keep it locked here on AFKfor your full Champions League experience.It is Arsenal versus Paris Saint -Germain, the current holders of the Champions League on Saturday.We can't wait.Check it out.

Check it all out here on AFTV.