During another bout of pre-match mind games before Saturday’s final, Luis Enrique has insisted that Paris Saint-Germain’s motivation to retain the Champions League trophy is greater than Arsenal’s pursuit of a maiden title.“We will be European champions on Saturday,” Mikel Arteta boldly declared earlier in the week as Arsenal prepare for only their second ever Champions League final—the first ending in heartbreak at the hands of Barcelona, Enrique’s former club, back in 2005–06. The PSG manager refused to make such a definitive statement during his press duties, but believes that his side’s desire to win the final in Budapest is “bigger” than Arsenal’s.“Yes, it is powerful,” Enrique said of Arsenal’s motivation for a first crown. “But do you know how powerful trying to win the second one in a row is? It’s bigger. “So we’re ahead. I don’t think there’s any better motivation than winning the Champions League. We will see who is better—we both won our respective leagues and I’m going to focus on what is positive for my team so that we can show the best of ourselves.“It’s a source of motivation for us. We have already gone down in the history books as one of the best teams in Europe. But that’s what we’re looking for. You never know when you’re going to be back in the Champions League final and you have to make the most of it.”How Many Times Have Clubs Defended the Champions League Title?Real Madrid were last to retain the trophy in 2018. | VI Images/Getty Images.Defending the Champions League (or European Cup in its previous name) is not entirely uncommon across the competition’s history, but it has been achieved just once during the 21st century. Real Madrid won three titles on the spin between 2016 and 2018 after triumphing over Atlético Madrid, Juventus and then Liverpool in a hat-trick of memorable finals under Zinedine Zidane. Before the turn of the millennium, winning successive trophies was a more regular occurrence. Madrid kicked off the European Cup era by winning five titles on the trot from the inaugural 1955–56 campaign to the 1959–60 season. Portuguese giants Benfica then succeeded that all-conquering Madrid side with two straight titles, shortly followed by Inter clinching the trophy in back-to-back seasons in the mid-1960s. Benfica won multiple European Cups in succession. | IMAGO/HortsmullerAjax’s Total Football team managed a three-peat in the early 1970s, spurred on to greatness by Johan Cruyff, and Bayern Munich then followed in their footsteps by winning three on the bounce between 1974 and 1976. Immediately afterward, Liverpool and then Nottingham Forest won the competition twice in consecutive seasons, and Milan also achieved the milestone back in the late 1980s. In total, there have been eight occasions where teams have won the Champions League/European Cup title for at least two years in a row, meaning PSG can join a prestigious club. READ THE LATEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow