An incredible season came to an end in the cruellest way as we were beaten on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest.
Just six minutes in, we got ourselves in front when Kai Havertz went through on goal and fired home, and it was a case of 1-0 to The Arsenal at the break. However, Ousmane Dembele converted a penalty on 65 minutes to send the game to extra time.
That 30-minute period came and went with Viktor Gyokeres nearly grabbing a winner with 10 seconds to go, but instead a shootout was required. With the scores locked at 4-3 to the French side, the final kick fell to Gabriel who couldn’t convert.
That saw the Parisians retain the Champions League, while our wait to become European champions will have to wait for another season.
DEAD-EYE KAI
The first-ever major European final between clubs from France and England was a spectacle before, the stadium decked half in red and white and half in red and blue.
A pianist played the iconic Champions League anthem to greet the teams, but it was our players who hit the right note after just six minutes when our hopes of clinching the trophy skyrocketed as Havertz came up trumps in another Champions League final.
An attempted clearance by Marquinhos struck Leandro Trossard, and spun kindly into the path of the German striker. With 40 yards between him and the goal, he still had plenty to do but managed to advance into the box, composed himself and when faced one-on-one with Matvei Safonov, despite a tight angle he drilled the ball high past the goalkeeper to send the tens of thousands of Gooners inside the Puskas Arena into dreamland.
PSG named the same 10 outfield players that started the previous season’s final when they beat Inter Milan, so they weren’t to be overawed by falling behind despite the occasion. They put us under a sustained period of pressure for the next 15 minutes, but couldn’t find a way to trouble David Raya in the opening 20 minutes, thanks in part to a brilliant tackle by Gabriel which hooked a loose ball away from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
The holders had netted 44 goals in this season's competition, but we had conceded just six, and in the first half the best defence in the competition more than contained the most potent attack.
The only opportunities Luis Enrique’s team mustered were late in the half when Nuno Mendes got to the byline and saw a cross deflect into Fabian Ruiz’s path but he headed a good opportunity over, while Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue both fired well over the top from outside the area.
Having been starved of opportunities in the opening 45, a neat move involving Martin Odegaard and Havertz allowed Havertz another sight of goal, but just as he got his shot away, Marquinhos came across and made a vital block to snuff out the chance, and prevent his side from going into the break trailing by more than one.
DEMBELE STRIKES BACK
The opening 15 minutes after the restart again saw PSG dominate possession, helped by the fact that every time we got the ball, we were seemingly penalised by referee Daniel Siebert for a series of soft fouls - a theme that ran right throughout the game.
And then on the hour mark, he pointed to the spot when Kvaratskhelia got around Cristhian Mosquera and our man brought him down inside the box. A VAR check provided no reprieve, and Ballon d’Or holder Dembele sent Raya the wrong way from 12 yards to level things up.
With the game back on a knife-edge, PSG smelt blood and pushed hard to win it before extra time. After Vitinha rippled the top of the net with a strike from range, they struck the woodwork on 76 minutes when they counter-attacked on us with Kvaratskhelia speeding away from the returning Jurrien Timber, but thankfully, his shot flicked off Myles Lewis-Skelly’s boot and onto the post.
As the clock ticked down, Vitinha again saw a shot from range whistle over the top, and in the final moments of stoppage time, another dangerous break saw Bradley Barcola scamper away from our defence, but a heavy touch in the box narrowed his angle, and he shanked into the side-netting as we moved into extra time.
EXTRA AGONY
Like most additional 30-minute periods, very little of note happened as two tired teams began to run out of steam, but there was one moment of contention in the first period.
We saw a strong claim for a penalty waved away in the 100th minute when Noni Madueke got around Mendes and burst into the area, with the full-back bundling into the back of our winger and bringing him to the ground, but Sibert again waved away appeals, then booked captain Declan Rice and Mikel Arteta for their protestations.
For long periods of the game, PSG were playing the ball from side to side in our final third, probing away and trying to find a gap, and it was much of the same in the second period of extra time. But our red wall stayed firm, refusing to allow any kind of gap.
With 10 seconds to go, Viktor Gyokeres saw a strike deflect angonisngly wide as we nearly found a way to nick it, but instead our European destiny would be decided after a penalty shootout.
SHORT IN THE SHOOTOUT
The shootout began with each side converting successful kicks, but after Doue scored, Eze dragged his effort wide of the target. However, Raya guessed the right way to deny Nuno Mendes, and Rice then levelled things up again.
Achraf Hakimi and Gabriel Martinelli then traded successful kicks before Lucas Beraldo once again restored PSG’s advantage with their fifth. The pressure then fell on Gabriel to convert to keep our hopes alive, but he sent his kick over the bar as our European dream ended in the cruellest fashion.
PENALTY SHOOTOUT
1-0 Ramos scored
1-1 Gyokeres scored
2-1 Doue scored
2-1 Eze missed
2-1 Mendes saved
2-2 Rice scored
3-2 Hakimi scored
3-3 Martinelli scored
4-3 Beraldo scored
4-3 Gabriel missed
FACTS AND STATS
PSG are only the third side ever to win both their league title and the European Cup/Champions League in back-to-back seasons, after Real Madrid (1956/57 and 1957/58) and Ajax (1971/72 and 1972/73).
PSG are just the second team this century to win the Champions League in back-to-back seasons (2025 and 2026), following Real Madrid’s three in a row between 2016 and 2018. They are also the first French team ever to win the European Cup/Champions League in consecutive editions.
We remain the team with the most games in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history to never lift the trophy (226).
Kai Havertz became just the third player to score for two different teams in a Champions League final (previously for Chelsea), after Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd, Real Madrid) and Mario Mandzukic (Juventus, Bayern Munich).
Aged 19 years and 246 days, Myles Lewis-Skelly became the second-youngest Englishman ever to start a Champions League final, only behind Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2018 (19y 231d).
Havertz became only the third player to start a European Cup/Champions League final for two different English clubs (previously with Chelsea), after Frank Gray (Leeds United, Nottingham Forest) and Ashley Cole (Arsenal, Chelsea).
Our starting XI for this game had played a combined 21,458 league minutes in 2025/26, 6,081 more than PSG’s starters combined for in Ligue 1 this term (15,377).
WHAT'S NEXT
Tomorrow sees the squad return to north London to soak up the adulation and support from all our Gooners as we crown a memorable season with our Champions Parade, which will be streamed live on Arsenal.com and The Arsenal from 1pm.
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