Marquinhos said Paris Saint-Germain would not touch their formula on the eve of the European final in Budapest, even as the club steps into one of the hardest nights of its season against Arsenal. Speaking during official media duties alongside Ousmane Dembélé, the captain framed the final as a repeat of last year’s test: the same motivation, the same pressure, and the same demand to be ready for whatever the match throws at them.
The timing matters because PSG are trying to defend the Champions League crown they won last year, and Marquinhos made clear that the memory of that night still drives the squad. “Once you win it, once you taste that title, you want to live a moment like that again,” he said, adding that he still remembers how the dressing room felt after the final. For him, the target is not only to perform, but to arrive with the same hunger that carried PSG through last season’s run.
He also pointed to the people coming with them, turning the final into more than a team occasion. Marquinhos said he has seen supporters traveling by car to back the side, and that his father is coming with friends, a detail that underlined how far some have come to be in Budapest. “People are coming from far away to push us,” he said, adding that PSG’s ambition is “the same as last year… maybe even bigger.”
That confidence sits alongside a sharper truth about finals: they do not move in a straight line. Marquinhos said PSG will keep working as they have all season and will not alter their preparation, but he also described finals as matches in which humans feel pressure, difficult moments and everything that builds around the game. He said the club spent last year managing the pressure and the weight of the occasion, and that it will do the same again rather than search for a new approach at the last minute.
Arsenal is the obstacle standing in the way. Marquinhos said PSG have faced the English side several times in recent years and know their strengths, with the matchup set to be the eighth meeting between the clubs in all competitions. He described Arsenal as a very difficult opponent and said PSG cannot know when the decisive moment will come, only that they need to be ready for anything. The one question left hanging is whether that preparation is enough to blunt a side known for tactical precision, constant pressure and a threat from set pieces. That answer comes in Budapest.
