Arsenal won't get to keep Champions League trophy if they defeat PSG in final

One rule means Arsenal won't be keeping the Champions League trophy should they usurp Paris Saint-Germain as winners

Arsenal won't be able to keep the Champions League trophy if they beat Paris Saint-Germain in the final because of one key rule change. The Gunners face the current holders on Saturday where they are aiming to become the seventh English team to win the competition.

However, the trophy won't be permanently kept in north London if they defeat the French champions because of UEFA. In 2009, the governing body made the decision to hand a replica trophy to the competition's winner with their name engraved on it each year, meaning the club are able to display it permanently in their museum.

While the winners lift the original after the match, the trophy will subsequently return to UEFA's custody at their headquarters in Switzerland. In the event of their victory, the Gunners will be able to make replicas of the title but must mark them as such with the trophy allowed to be a maximum of 80% the size of the actual trophy.

Before the rule change, clubs who had won the trophy five times in total or three times in a row were able to permanently keep the cup. The original club was awarded to Real Madrid after winning the first five editions of the competition from 1956 to 1960.

Ajax were the next team to be handed the trophy for keeps after winning it three years in a row from 1970 to 1973. Bayern Munich also achieved a trio of consecutive wins from 1974 to 1976 to become the third team to win it three years in a row.

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AC Milan won the tournament for a fifth time in 1994 as they joined the elite club as Liverpool became the sole English team to permanently keep the trophy after beating the Italian giants in the 'Miracle of Istanbul' in 2005.

The Reds also enjoy the honour of being the last team to keep the trophy forever before the rule change in 2009. That means Barcelona's triumph in the 2015 final against Juventus meant the Spanish side had to return the trophy to UEFA.

Speaking ahead of the final in Budapest, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta called it a "privilege" to be able to compete in the final of football's most prestigious club tournament. He said: "It's huge. It's a massive privilege.

"You see the impact immediately when you reach the final, how people react, to be there, to be present, to have travelled there, and the demands that you have [from] all of that.

"It's the most special competition in the world at club level. There's no question about that. And I really want to enjoy the day, and obviously win it."