Champions League final: PSG beat Arsenal on penalties to retain trophy
Paris Saint-Germain retained their Champions League title in the most dramatic fashion as Arsenal suffered European heartbreak on penalties following a tense 1-1 draw in Budapest.
Mikel Arteta’s Premier League champions were aiming to secure a historic double and claims a first-ever European crown, but defender Gabriel Magalhães blazed the decisive fifth spot-kick over the bar to trigger wild Parisian celebrations at a sweltering Puskas Arena.
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It means Luis Enrique’s side become only the second team in the modern Champions League era, after Real Madrid, to successfully defend the trophy, ensuring the silverware returns to Paris for the second consecutive year.
Arsenal had enjoyed the dream start after just six minutes when Kai Havertz pounced on a defensive lapse from Marquinhos. The German forward barrelled clear after a friendly ricochet off Leandro Trossard and thrashed a clinical, left-footed strike past Matvey Safonov at his near post.
Having scored so early, the Gunners looked comfortable absorbing relentless pressure from the holders, executing a disciplined defensive rearguard that restricted PSG to just one shot on target in a frustrated opening 45 minutes.
However, the French giants finally found their breakthrough just after the hour mark. The tricky Khvicha Kvaratskhelia drew a clumsy lunging challenge from Cristhian Mosquera inside the area, leaving referee Daniel Siebert with little choice but to point to the spot.
Ousmane Dembélé stepped up and coolly dispatched the resulting 65th-minute penalty, sending Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya the wrong way to level the tie.
PSG pushed hard to settle the contest in normal time, with Kvaratskhelia hitting the post after a swift counter-attack and substitute Bradley Barcola side-footing a golden chance wide in the dying seconds.
Tempers flared in extra time as Arteta and midfielder Declan Rice were both booked for furiously protesting a denied penalty shout when Noni Madueke collided with Nuno Mendes inside the box. Yet as fatigue set in, neither side could break the deadlock, forcing the showpiece into a nerve-shredding shootout.
The drama continued from 12 yards as Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze missed his side’s second kick, only for Raya to brilliantly deny Nuno Mendes and hand the advantage back to the London club. But after Lucas Beraldo calmly tucked away PSG’s fifth penalty, the pressure fell squarely on the shoulders of Gabriel, whose wayward strike sealed the Gunners’ fate.
Exactly 20 years after their agonising 2006 final defeat to Barcelona in Paris, Arsenal were left to endure yet more continental agony, while Luis Enrique cemented his place among Europe’s elite managers with his third personal Champions League triumph.
