Gabriel Magalhaes skied the decisive spot-kick as Arsenal were denied a first Champions League triumph in a penalty shootout defeat by Paris St-Germain (PSG), who won the competition for a second successive year.
Mikel Arteta’s side lifted the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years last weekend, but were denied a league and European double in the most heartbreaking of fashions in a hot and humid Puskas Arena.
The Gunners made a dream start to the final in Budapest when Kai Havertz, who scored the winning goal in the Champions League final for Chelsea against Manchester City in 2021, burst away from the PSG backline and rifled the ball into the roof of the net after only six minutes.
But from then on it was PSG’s final, as they took control, dominating large chunks of the game, with Gabriel and William Saliba making a number of vital interventions as the Arsenal defence dealt with waves of attacks from Luis Enrique’s side.
Arteta had a number of big calls to make for this game and opted to continue with 19-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield, while he stuck with Cristhian Mosquera, who was filling in at right back for the injured Ben White and the not fully fit Jurrien Timber.
And it was a clumsy Mosquera tackled that led to PSG’s second-half equaliser. The Spaniard was caught out by a clever Khvicha Kvaratskhelia run and brought the winger down in the area, with Ousmane Dembele rolling in the resulting penalty.
Arsenal were forced to defend inside their own half for most of the game as PSG enjoyed 75% of possession and the French side almost won it in normal time with Kvaratskhelia hitting the post and Vitinha going close from the edge of the area.
Arteta completely changed his frontline as his side tired and the renewed energy led to a huge penalty shout when substitute Noni Madueke tangled with Nuno Mendes but referee Daniel Siebert waved away vociferous Arsenal protests that led to both Declan Rice and the manager being booked.
And after an extremely tense extra time it was centre-back Gabriel who missed the decisive penalty as PSG won the shootout 4-3 to retain the Champions League title.
