PSG, blessed penalties: second Champions League in a row, Arsenal hurts itself
Paris Saint-Germain confirms itself as European champion by winning its second Champions League in a row after the one obtained a year ago in Munich against Inter Milan. This time to fall in the presence of PSG is a strong-willed Arsenal, which takes the result to penalties after the thrilling 1-1 draw in the first 120 minutes. Mistakes from the penalty spot by Eze and Gabriel were decisive, while Beraldo’s transformation actually gave the Parisians their fifth title of the season and fourth from the penalty spot. For the Londoners, on their seventh European final lost, the disappointment is instead atrocious.
The match opened in the best of ways for Arsenal, which took the lead as early as 6′ thanks to Havertz, who took full advantage of a dirty ball to unleash an impeccable thunderbolt for Safonov. PSG poured into the attack, but the Gunners held: very dangerous Kvaratskhelia, Ruiz and Dembelé, but Havertz even risked a one-two. The equalizing goal came, but only at 65′ thanks to a penalty caused by Mosquera’s foul on Kvara: Dembelé’s transformation was perfect.
Before 90′ there were chances to win the game on both sides (sensational ones wasted by Martinelli and Vitinha). In extra time Arsenal complains about a contact between Madueke and Nuno Mendes, but the referee lets it go on. It goes to penalties, Eze sends an impractical conversion to the bottom but Raya makes him breathe by repelling Nuno Mendes’ conclusion. And when it now looks as if it should go to the bitter end, Gabriel also misses the goal giving the Champions League to PSG for the second consecutive year.
With this triumph, Luis Enrique brings home the fifth title of the season for the Parisian club, which had already won Ligue 1 for the fifth consecutive year – the 14th in the club’s history. A total domination, at home and in Europe, that definitively consecrates the Spaniard’s technical project. For Arsenal, on the other hand, it was a new European disappointment: the Gunners, who had previously won a Cup Winners’ Cup and a Uefa Cup, lost their second Champions League final after the 2006 one against Barcelona.
The road to Budapest had been anything but easy for PSG. In the semifinals, the Parisians had first overwhelmed Bayern Munich with a resounding 5-4 win at the Parc des Princes, only to settle for a 1-1 draw in the return match at the Allianz Arena – with Dembelé scoring in the 3rd and Kane equalizing only in 94′ – to detach their pass to the final. A path also marked by the absence of Hakimi, who was injured in the first leg against the Bavarians and recovered in extremis for the final in Budapest.
Arsenal had instead eliminated Atletico Madrid in the semifinals, overcoming the Colchoneros in the return match at the Emirates Stadium after a 1-1 draw at the Metropolitano. Just on the eve of the final, several observers were pointing to the Gunners as favorites: among them Clarence Seedorf, who had declared to Sky’s microphones, “If I have to point to a team now that will be really capable of taking it home, just because of their ability … I say Arsenal.” A prediction that Budapest’s Puskas Arena resoundingly disproved.
Neither was there any lack of extra-field venom in the days leading up to the final. Gerry Cardinale, Milan’s owner, had pricked the Nerazzurri environment by recalling the final lost to PSG a year ago in Munich, sparking protests from Inter fans on social media. An episode that testifies to the extent to which PSG’s European dominance is now redrawing the balance and hierarchies of continental soccer, fueling debates far beyond the borders of France.
