French giants Paris Saint-Germain defeated English champions Arsenal on penalties at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary. It was the first-ev
French giants Paris Saint-Germain defeated English champions Arsenal on penalties at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
It was the first-ever meeting between an English side and a French side in the history of the UEFA Champions League finals. The match began with fireworks from north of the Channel, as Arsenal struck inside six minutes at the Puskás Aréna. Marquinhos’ attempted clearance ricocheted off Leandro Trossard and released Kai Havertz down the left. The German forward, already a scorer in a previous final (Manchester City v Chelsea), lifted a clever finish into the roof of the net from a tight angle to give Arsenal the dream start.
Relying on a defence that had equalled the record of nine clean sheets in the competition, Arsenal looked determined to extend the run of finals won by the opening scorers. They largely contained PSG’s prolific attack before half‑time, limiting them to two wayward efforts from Fabián Ruiz and muted penalty appeals for a possible Bukayo Saka handball. After the interval, however, the game shifted when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was brought down by Cristhian Mosquera in the box. Referee Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot, and Ousmane Dembélé coolly converted to level the score with 25 minutes left. Kvaratskhelia later came close with a deflected strike against the post, while Vitinha’s late effort skimmed the netting, forcing extra time.
The additional half‑hour proved cagey, with PSG dominating possession but lacking penetration. Nuno Mendes’ challenge on Noni Madueke drew no penalty, and Viktor Gyökeres’ deflected shot was the only real scare. For the first time in a decade, the Champions League final went to penalties. Eberechi Eze missed wide, but David Raya denied Mendes to restore parity. At 3‑3 after four kicks each, Lucas Beraldo converted confidently, while Gabriel Magalhães agonisingly fired over. PSG, who had rebounded from a modest league phase to score a record 45 goals in the tournament, crowned their resurgence with Luis Enrique joining the elite group of managers to win the trophy three times. Arsenal, meanwhile, suffered its fifth straight defeat in European finals, extending its unwanted record as the club with the most Champions League appearances without ever lifting the trophy.
Arsenal’s manager Arteta congratulated PSG and called for support
“Pain, that’s it,” Arteta said. “When you are a few penalty kicks away from winning the biggest football club competition, that is the way you feel. First of all, you have to go through that pain, digest it and turn it into fuel to improve and to reach a different level. Because it will demand a different level of quality, which is around Europe.
“I want to congratulate PSG, and Luis Enrique in particular, because in my opinion, they are the best team in the world. What they can do with the ball, with individual actions, I have not seen it [before].”
“We [must] start to make some very important decisions if we want to reach another level. And we’re going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it, but it’s going to demand to be very, very ambitious, very fast and very smart.”
“You have to get into the competition with all the squad available in the best moment, each player,” Arteta said. “And we’ve had more players, many more players than last season, but not all of them in that condition, for different reasons. And that’s something that we have to improve as well.”
Luis Enrique revealed how calm he was during the difficult moment
“I decided a long time ago to stay calm and try to enjoy it because you need luck to win on penalties. I think we were great in terms of the quality of our kicks and also the goalkeeper.
It’s amazing, but maybe today both teams deserved to win, but the way we played the whole season, I think we deserve it. We’ll try to do it again next year. Why not?
The match started in the best way for them, scoring after a lucky action. They are strong physically, they know how to defend, and it was very tough”.
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