A New Negative Record Haunts Arsenal in the Champions League Final

Arsenal entered the UEFA Champions League records from the negative side, having recorded the lowest possession percentage for a team in the history of the tournament finals since this statistic began being tracked in the 2003-2004 season. This occurred during this season's final, which they lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties, with a possession percentage of 24.7%.

Ironically, the previous negative record was also held by Arsenal, when they had only 29.7% possession in the 2006 final against Barcelona, in a match where the English team played most of the time with ten players after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off early.

Despite the different circumstances of the two matches, Arsenal returned after twenty years to break its own negative record, registering the lowest possession percentage in the modern history of the continental competition finals.

Thus, Arsenal became the team with the lowest possession percentages in the UEFA Champions League final since these statistics became available, recording 29.7% in the 2006 final and 24.7% in the 2026 final.