PSG beat Arsenal to win back-to-back Champions League titles after shootout
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has hailed Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos as a “gentleman” for his gesture to Gabriel after the Champions League final.
Gabriel missed the decisive spot-kick in Saturday’s penalty shootout as Arsenal, once again, came up short on European club football’s biggest stage.
The defender was the Gunners’ fifth penalty taker in Budapest and needed to score after Eberechi Eze had earlier put his effort wide.
However, Gabriel blasted his penalty over the bar to confirm PSG as back-to-back Champions League winners - just the second team to achieve the feat in the modern era.
As the PSG players and staff ran onto the pitch to kick-off the celebrations, Marquinhos, instead, went to comfort his fellow Brazilian who was visibly devastated prior to being consoled by his Arsenal team-mates.
"He's a gentleman. He's probably one of the most experienced players currently active,” Odegaard said of the PSG captain.
“He has already experienced both sides of a final like this, and he knows what we are going through right now."
Marquinhos rushed to console Gabriel after the Arsenal defender missed the decisive penalty in the Champions League final
The decision for Gabriel to take the fifth penalty has been debated among fans and pundits alike, with Gunners legend Thierry Henry questioning why it was a defender selected for such a pressure situation.
Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta revealed it was Gabriel who had requested to take the decisive fifth penalty.
"He wanted to take number five," Arteta said. "Obviously we have prepared and trained this moment. Normally the penalty takers would be Bukayo, Martin and Kai for sure.
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"Today we knew that if we go to extra-time and penalties, the penalty takers would be different players.
"Still with the quality - when you have Ebs taking penalties in training, he doesn't miss any. But then you have to do it in this moment.
"We were unfortunate not to have the same precision and efficiency that they had and that's the reason we haven't won it."