Fresh v fatigued? Why PSG have a big advantage in Champions League final

A look at the most basic numbers might have you believe that the Champions League finalists have had equally demanding campaigns. The final in Budapest on Saturday will be the 63rd game of the season for Arsenal and the 56th for Paris Saint-Germain . However, the French side also played seven matches at last summer’s Club World Cup, which means both teams have played 62 matches since the start of last June. Delve a little deeper, though, and there is more to those figures than meets the eye. While Arsenal were able to rest properly last summer, PSG were in the US, reaching the final of a competition played in sweltering heat, which started only 14 days after they had beaten Inter in the Champions League final. They had barely any time off to rest after it, either, because their season started exactly one month after the Club World Cup had ended, with the Super Cup against Tottenham . And their defence of the Ligue 1 title began just a few days later. The newly expanded Club World Cup set up the teams involved for a difficult season, where their players were forced to play catchup on their rivals when it came to rest and recuperation. There is no way of quantifying how much Chelsea’s players were affected by their victorious run to the final, but it is no coincidence that they only won two of their first six league games of the season and went on to finish way down in 10th. …