On a painful loss, overwhelming pride, and unbridled excitement for what's to come.
20 years ago, I watched my first Arsenal game as a fan of the club. And boy did I know how to pick it. Because that first foray into Goonerhood was the 2006 Champions League final.
I can’t really explain why that was the case. I grew up just outside of Washington, D.C. My father loves football, but the team that has earned his passion is Zamalek, a giant of the Egyptian league based in Cairo. I did not have any remote connection to London outside of a trip there as a child and several summers my old man spent there long before I was even a twinkle in his eye.
All I know is that when Jens Lehmann got himself sent off early in the final, I was inexplicably incensed. When Sol Campbell put Arsenal ahead anyway, I screamed myself hoarse celebrating. And when Barcelona fought back and scored twice to steal the win away, I was heartbroken. By the time the full time whistle blew, I had invested so much of myself that it was clear: Arsenal were the team I would support moving forward.
I’ve been fortunate enough in this life to have fallen in love with someone or something multiple times. And what I’ve learned is that your heart will give itself to whoever it chooses. You just have to go with it and brace for all the pain and pleasure that may come.
In my romantic endeavors, my heart got more and more discerning over the years until I met the person who was right for me. But I chose Arsenal, the other love of my life, when I was a kid. And you can’t break up with your football club. Even 13-year-old me knew that. Still, I took the plunge. Still, I sensed that this beckoning emotional rollercoaster would be a ride that was worth it.
It follows then that seeing Arsenal play in their second-ever Champions League final on Saturday was something of a full-circle moment for me. After two decades of pain, fun, and occasional glory, the Gunners were back in the biggest game in club football. With them having secured a first Premier League title, this represented a moment for Arsenal to go on and make further history, to announce Mikel Arteta’s side as truly the best in the world.
Ultimately, that didn’t happen. After overcoming one nation-state-backed enterprise in Manchester City, another one Paris Saint-Germain proved a step too far. As we all are painfully aware, Arsenal took PSG to penalties but could not achieve victory from there.
It should not go unstated what Arteta’s charges were up against in Budapest. Arsenal took on one of the richest clubs in football, the current champions of Europe, with an attack sporting the current Ballon d’Or holder and at least two of the best forwards in the world. PSG has flexed such staggering financial muscle while playing in a competition as comparatively weak as Ligue 1 that they have clinched that title without really needing to use their best players. Ousmane Dembélé played only 1,063 minutes in the French top flight while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has 1,482 to his name, Achraf Hakimi boasts 1,374, and Desiré Doué has totaled 1,356. In contrast Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel, and Martín Zubimendi all played over 2,500 in the Premier League. To put it another way, Mohammed Kudus — who has not played since January — managed more league minutes than any PSG player I have previously mentioned. And that seemingly wasn’t enough either as the French champions convinced Ligue 1 to reschedule multiple matches, including one against title challengers Lens, to assist them with their Champions League preparation.
This means that the European champions came into the game far fresher than Arsenal did. But still, it was Arsenal who snatched a lead in the sixth minute of the game. This naturally precipitated a game state in which the best attack in the world attempted a siege against the best defense in the world. Although, if you ask too many people (including Sir Alex Ferguson, reportedly) they would tell you it was shocking and anti-football of Arsenal to lean in to their strengths.
The Gunners might have gotten away it too, or even added to their lead, were it not for Daniel Seibert. The German referee put up one of the most disgraceful refereeing performances I have seen in a while. Midway through the match he seemed to decide that he would no longer give Arsenal the benefit of the doubt. The moment he decided that was blatantly clear; as Bukayo Saka prepared to take a corner in the sixth minute of added time at the end of the first period, Seibert blew for halftime and signaled that the Englishman had taken too long to initiate the set piece. I’m sure we’ll see that rule consistently applied in the future (sarcasm).
From there, the officiating only got worse. Seibert repeatedly allowed PSG’s defenders to foul Kai Havertz, preventing the Arsenal forward from serving as a release valve for his teammates as effectively as he could have. The same applied for Viktor Gyökeres later in the match. In the meantime, he gave PSG a lot of similar calls. Later in the match, Saka was booked for what replays showed to be a clean tackle. When Jurriën Timber spun him like a top, all João Neves needed to do was dramatically fall to the ground holding his face in order to earn the foul and nullify Timber’s entry into PSG’s third.
And then of course was the pièce de résistance of this Dumpster fire refereeing display: the no-call on Nuno Mendes after the PSG dragged Noni Madueke down in the penalty area late in the match. Personally, I struggle to understand how Seibert did not grant a spot kick for that while doing so after Cristhian Mosquera brought Kvaratskhelia down in the box (which was a bona fide penalty). His booking of Rice and Arteta as they protested the decision was the all-too-predictable action of a small man who’d let a crumb of power go to his head. Additionally, I think he knew damn well what he was doing when he asked Gabriel to re-spot the final penalty kick of the shootout with the trophy on the line.
By the way, Seibert has not been selected to officiate at the World Cup. Which begs the question of why he was chosen to oversee probably the second-biggest game in football after the final of this month’s tournament. It might not mean anything, but PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi serves on the UEFA Executive Committee.
And still, Arsenal took the game to its final dregs. They frustrated the best and most expensively assembled team in Europe to the point where Neves bitterly stated, “I saw only one team on the pitch, to be honest,” a surefire sign that the Gunners executed their game plan well. Arsenal nullified PSG’s attack enough that the Parisian side didn’t score a single goal from open play in 120 minutes. They were a missed penalty away from taking the shootout in sudden death and perhaps winning the match. They were a missed penalty call away from probably winning it before that. Unfortunately, those are the margins.
Perhaps those fine margins will point Arteta and Arsenal in the direction they need go so that the team can advance to another level. Because as tremendous as the current Premier League champions were in Budapest, part of their undoing ultimately came down to a now age-old problem with this side: a lack of game-breaking offensive talent. Despite forcing PSG into what should have been an advantageous game script Arsenal’s forwards, particularly on the left side of the pitch, were unable to exploit their opponents on the counter as they tried to get back on level terms. They just couldn’t make their opponents pay for defensive openness.
At the end of the day, football is a low-scoring game. The margins are inherently fine. Those margins have gotten even finer as the sport continues to become more and more competitive. This means that the best teams must be able to score goals consistently, and against any opponent. While the Gunners have been able to fulfill that requirement most of the time with a frankly legendary set piece prowess, one lesson to take from this season is that Arsenal can become even more ruthless in the final third. Because it too often is the case that when they aren’t able to come up with a set piece goal against top-tier sides, they struggle to turn the margins in their favor. But that is a conversation for another day (and for the Ballers section).
I had to go a wedding about an hour after the match ended. As I Ubered out to the venue with my wife and some friends who were also attending, I could feel a tentativeness in the car. Understandably, they all thought I was simmering with rage as I quietly sat in the front passenger seat and looked out the window for the entirety of the ride over. They probably worried that I posed a threat to the promised pleasantness of the evening ahead. Eventually, one of them asked how I was feeling.
I told them that I was a little sad but more than that, I just felt proud. Which is the truth. Because Arsenal gave everything out on that pitch. They played their 63rd game of the season through pain, through incessant noise, through self-doubt, through sheer exhaustion. But they also did it with the steely confidence that only comes from knowing they are winners. In doing so, they took the best team in the world to the brink. When it wasn’t enough, their heads stayed high and the fire in them kept burning. How could I not be deeply honored to support such a team?
I came to discover that in 2006, that loss in the Champions League final was the end of something. The club I had chosen to love would reinvent itself several times over in the years to come. But this time feels different. This time feels like just the beginning.
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Ballers
These are going to be relatively quick hits because there is still much for me to say before I officially close the book on this season. But I could not let this edition of the column pass by without commending the following players on their performances in Budapest.
Kai Havertz
Just this season, Havertz has scored the winning goal in a Carabao Cup semifinal, an equalizer in a Champions League Round of 16 game, the winner in a Champions League quarterfinal, an equalizer at Manchester City, and a goal that effectively won Arsenal the Premier League. He also assisted the winner against Newcastle and an equalizer in an FA Cup quarterfinal. On Saturday, he scored a go-ahead goal in a Champions League final, and not for the first time in his career. He’s just a clutch player, and I hope the nonsense about him being a bad signing or a wasteful striker can finally stop.
Gabriel
People will use the penalty miss to tarnish him, but I think the Brazilian was absolutely world class against PSG. For 120 minutes, he did not put a foot wrong as some of the best attackers on the planet charged at Arsenal’s penalty area again and again. In the 11th minute of the match he intervened perfectly to prevent Kvaratskhelia from having a point-blank shot at goal. He also produced an excellently timed tackle on Doué in the box to prevent the Frenchman from a close-range chance. He was the standout in an utterly dominant defense. It’s not just me saying it, either; PSG fans will tell you the same. Even Marquinhos rushed to console him after the match — he knows Brazil will need him in just a matter of days. What a monster of a defender.
Piero Hincapié
Speaking of which, Hincapié was also phenomenal. The Ecuadorian got the start with Riccardo Calafiori apparently too injured to feature on Saturday. He proceeded to put on a defensive clinic. Hincapié stifled both Doué and Hakimi, repeatedly blocking attempts to cross or play into the box from Arsenal’s left side. I also loved how he would charge out to man-mark Dembélé halfway up the pitch when necessary. And he produced a lovely tackle in the penalty area to prevent Neves from creating a dangerous moment. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance was that Hincapié played through cramp for the entirety of extra time. He stayed on the pitch because the Gunners were out of substitutions and gutted out those final moments to get his side to the shootout. It was brave, disciplined, lockdown defending. He’s everything you want in a defender.
Declan Rice
I think Rice showed some outstanding leadership out in Budapest. By his standards, he had a decent but quiet game — he covered an insane amount of ground per usual, mopped up messes around him, and helped orchestrate buildup when Arsenal had the ball. His penalty was emphatic. But for me it’s his response to losing the final that has earned him a mention here. Perhaps it’s another aura gamble but that wry smile and shake of the head after the final whistle, as well as his comments about essentially going again in search of the European title next season, are largely responsible for me swaying toward excitement and not doom in that regard. He’s not letting heads around him drop and that really is half the battle.
Noni Madueke
Madueke had a really strong showing when he came off the bench on Saturday. After tracking Saka for 83 minutes, Mendes was not prepared for the different challenge Arsenal’s other right winger presented. Accordingly, the Englishman repeatedly raced past him on the touchline and was probably the Gunners’ most threatening player in the closing stages of the game. He should have earned a penalty for his side. Considering how up-and-down his season has been, I think Madueke has ended his first campaign in red and white quite well. It’s a reminder that despite his inconsistency, there are the raw materials of a truly dangerous attacker in there.
Cristhian Mosquera
Yes, he eventually gave away the penalty that let PSG back into the game. But I want to put this into perspective. This is a 21-year-old center back who was deployed out wide in a Champions League final, with his assignment being one of the best wingers in the world, if not the best. And for over an hour, Mosquera kept that winger quiet. I wish Timber had been brought on a little sooner, but I think Mosquera’s performance was very impressive. That’s a defender with a very bright future ahead.
Arsenal Football Club
Unfortunately, I was not able to be in London for the parade. But I got to enjoy the next best thing, which was watching it live on my phone. In doing so, the same thing struck me that has struck everyone from Sunday’s celebration: Arsenal are an absolutely gargantuan institution. Watching hundreds of thousands — if not at least a million — supporters cram into north London from all over the world to show their love and admiration to this team was utterly awe-inspiring.
Despite the bad-faith jabs from certain detractors, I think the timing of the parade was impeccable. The players likely needed an emotional lift after losing to PSG at the death, and seeing a population that surpasses those of most major cities lined up along the streets to cheer them on was probably the perfect tonic. Based on the Jack Wilshere-esque antics Ben White got up to, Rice running through every chant in the book, and Havertz yelling, “ARSENAL! ARSENAL! ARSENAL!” into the microphone during the club’s official stream, I’d say they had a fun time. Surely the players ended the day feeling like the heroes they are.
They will now enter the offseason on a high. Some will go off to the World Cup to try to achieve further glory. Others will take a much-deserved vacation for the next few weeks. But when next season starts up again in just a couple months (it’s too much football if we’re being honest), the players will hopefully be ready to go again.
It’s quite clear that Arsenal will aim to retool in the meantime. Arteta essentially vowed after the final to elevate the team’s attacking capabilities ahead of next season, and that will require some big signings. Ambitious, even, as the manager pointed out. Josh Kroenke has promised investment in the squad this summer, and David Ornstein has reported that such spending may equal or even surpass last summer’s expenditure. Which makes sense; Arsenal are set to earn a record windfall on the back of their successful season.
What all this means is that the Gunners will almost certainly be back even stronger next season. They’ll be hungry to retain their Premier League title and get a challenge for the Champions League over the line. And they’ll have some more firepower to help them do it. Like I said earlier, this is just the beginning. I am absolutely brimming with excitement regarding the future. After 20 years, I love this club more than ever before.
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