Saturday's UEFA Champions League final in Budapest pits Paris Saint-Germain against Arsenal -- two very good football sides, but in very different ways.
The teams' traits are set in stone, which means the pattern of the game can be relatively easy to envision: Pass-happy PSG, who averaged an astonishing 64.6% possession per game in the French Ligue 1 this season, will duck and weave their way through the lines to make their way up the pitch neatly; while the Gunners, who conceded fewer goals (27) and scored more from set pieces (25) in the Premier League than any other side in Europe's top-five divisions, will aspire to be a combination of obstinate and opportunistic.
That's not to say it will be Luis Enrique's attack vs. Mikel Arteta's defense -- in fact, Arsenal boast some exceptional difference-makers on the ball, while PSG can showcase a more pragmatic side when required -- but many fans will head into the game knowing broadly how things will shake out.
Beyond that general pattern, however, there are a few tactical quirks and nuances that could potentially define European club football's showpiece event.
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PSG's bizarre kickoff routine
In the age of set piece innovation, perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise to see a team simply punting the ball straight out of play into the opposition half from kickoff. Clearly there's an intention behind it.
But the fact that it's PSG -- arguably the best team in the world -- who have taken to this rudimental strategy more than others makes it difficult to process. So why do they do this?
"It's about boxing the opposition in," set piece analyst Stuart Reid, who has worked with a litany of clubs that includes Champions League qualifiers Como and newly promoted Hull City, said. "Push high up the pitch immediately and try to win the ball back from the resulting throw-in. Then you've got possession in the opposition third quickly."
This is exactly what PSG do, and they do it well. In their last two Ligue 1 games of the season, they regained possession within 30 seconds of kickoff. Curiously, though, they don't tend to use it as a platform to get an early shot off -- the stats show that they booted it straight out of play 28 times in Ligue 1 and 15 times in the Champions League this season, yet not once did they take a shot within 60 seconds.