Champions League Final Under the Shadow of the War in Ukraine
The Champions League final highlights how the war in Ukraine can permeate European football in subtle ways. Russian goalkeeper Matvei Safonov’s silent presence, Georgian star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s ties to Russia and Europe, and Ukrainian defender Illia Zabarnyi’s clear stance against Russian aggre
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The Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG) and Arsenal Football Club was not only the biggest event in European football, it also offered an image that goes beyond sport. With PSG crowned back-to-back European champions, the match once again showed that the war in Ukraine continues to cast its shadow even over spaces that present themselves as neutral.
Since 2022, the idea of separating sport and politics has become increasingly difficult to sustain. Clubs continue to speak the language of competition, but players carry personal histories that extend far beyond the pitch. In PSG’s case, those histories are closely tied to the post-Soviet space and its ongoing tensions.
In that context, the presence of Matvei Safonov in the starting lineup of a Champions League final is not a minor detail. The Russian goalkeeper, who has maintained an extremely cautious public profile regarding the war in Ukraine and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, embodies a form of silent presence. He has expressed neither explicit support nor open criticism. That silence – common among Russian athletes – cannot simply be read as neutrality. In today’s context, it is also a form of positioning shaped by political and personal constraints.
Also on the field from the start was Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, one of PSG’s standout players. Born in Georgia – a country marked by its own conflict with Russia and a strong pro-European orientation – his presence adds another layer of complexity. Before becoming a star in Naples and Paris, Kvaratskhelia played for both FC Lokomotiv Moscow and FC Rubin Kazan – clubs that formed part of his development within Russian football.
Defending champion Oleksandr Usyk successfully retained his heavyweight titles by securing an 11th-round technical knockout against Rico Verhoeven on Saturday, May 23. The 39-year-old Ukrainian struggled early on against the significant height and reach advantage of the structural underdog, falling behind on the scorecards during the first half of the match. However, Usyk’s physical conditioning and tactical ring intelligence allowed him to shift momentum in the later frames, ultimately flooring the Dutchman before the referee stopped the bout in the final seconds of the 11th round.
He has expressed support for Georgia’s European path, yet his career trajectory reflects the complex interdependence that still defines much of the post-Soviet space. That duality makes him a clear example of the transitional identities shaped between historical Russian influence and contemporary European aspirations.
The course of the match itself offered a meaningful moment. In the second half, Illia Zabarnyi came on to replace Marquinhos, gaining minutes in a high-profile final. A product of FC Dynamo Kyiv, where he made his professional debut in 2019, Zabarnyi belongs to a generation of Ukrainian footballers whose careers have been shaped directly by war and displacement.
Unlike others, he has been clear in his stance: he considers Russia the aggressor. His presence on the pitch introduces a different dimension – one in which the war is no longer a distant backdrop, but a direct and lived reality.
Thus, even within a single team, different ways of inhabiting the same conflict emerge: Safonov’s silence, Kvaratskhelia’s ambiguity, and Zabarnyi’s clarity. These are not merely individual trajectories, but expressions of a region that no longer shares a common narrative.
While PSG celebrates a historic sporting achievement, its players also reflect the fractures of a region that, for decades, was united under different political and cultural coordinates. Today, those connections persist, but within a framework of tension and redefinition.
On Arsenal’s side, the context is different. As an English club, its players are, for the most part, more distant from the war in Ukraine in personal terms. Yet that distance does not eliminate the symbolic impact of the conflict, which continues to shape Europe as a whole – even when it is not explicitly addressed.
In this sense, the Champions League final did more than pit two teams against each other. It brought into view different European realities. This is not simply a matter of East versus West, but rather a more complex network of experiences, memories, and positions.
What is most striking is that these tensions are not always expressed through public statements. More often, they appear in subtle gestures: who starts, who comes off the bench, who speaks, and who chooses to remain silent. At that level, football becomes a space where politics does not disappear – it transforms.
Sporting institutions, including UEFA, continue to uphold neutrality as a guiding principle. Yet the war in Ukraine has exposed the limits of that stance. When conflicts directly affect the lives of players, neutrality ceases to be a tangible condition and becomes, at best, an aspiration.
For millions of viewers, this final will be remembered for PSG’s triumph. But it can also be read as a reflection of the tensions shaping contemporary Europe – not only through what is said, but through what remains unspoken.
Because today, in European football, even silence carries meaning. And in a Champions League final, that meaning is also part of the game.
