The UEFA Champions League final had a thrilling finish as Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal went to penalties.
The teams were knotted at 1-1 through regulation, then headed to penalty kicks, where Paris Saint-Germain prevailed.
Paris Saint-Germain Outlasts Arsenal on Penalty Kicks
The teams traded goals during regulation time, with Arsenal’s Kai Havertz striking first six minutes into the game. Paris Saint-Germain tied the match with Ousmane Dembele’s goal at the 65-minute mark.
The teams remained scoreless through extra time, then PSG scored on their first penalty kick from Goncalo Ramos. Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres tied the score at 1-1 with his penalty kick, and Desire Doue responded to put PSG back up 2-1. Arsenal missed its next penalty kick as Eberechi Eze stuttered after a long setup and sent his kick wide.
Arsenal then got a big save, with David Raya denying Nuno Mendes. Declan Rice came up next, tying the score at 2-2, but Achraf Haikimi responded with a calm kick to put PSG back up 3-2. Gabriel Martinelli then tied it again for Arsenal, but it would be their last goal of the day.
Lucas Beraldo scored next on his penalty to give PSG a 4-3 advantage, and Gabriel Martinelli sent his kick wide to give PSG the title.
Historic UEFA Champions League Finish
As Joe Prince-Wright of NBC Sports noted, the teams played through regulation and extra time before heading to the first penalty kicks in a decade for the UEFA Champions League.
“2016 was the last time the Champions League final went to penalty kicks, as Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid,” Prince-Wright reported. “In the two times it happened before that Chelsea won on penalty kicks against Bayern Munich in 2012 and Man United beat Chelsea on penalties in 2008.”
The loss ended Arsenal’s bid to become just the fourth club to win both the top-flight English league (First Division/Premier League) and the UEFA Champions Leauge (or Europe Cup) in the same season. Manchester United has done it twice, as has Liverpool, and Manchester City won both titles in the 2022-23 season.
Despite the loss in Saturday’s Champions League Final, Arsenal still had a historic season and expanded their worldwide fan base.
“Arsenal have really caught on among Gen Z, and particularly amongst Black fans,” Roger Bennett, founder and CEO of the Men in Blazers media network, told NPR. “They’ve forged an incredibly compelling human brand.”
As the NPR report added, Arsenal has been a trailblazing team and had historic success, but endured a long stretch of failures leading up to this year’s Premier League title.
“Arsenal was one of the first teams with a multiracial lineup, recruiting some of the most iconic Black players, including England’s Ian Wright and France’s Thierry Henry,” the report noted. “But for the past 22 years, Bennett says their story has been like a Greek tragedy — seemingly always coming in second.”
Author Nick Hornby, whose novel “Fever Pitch” centered on Arsenal’s long drought before being adapted into two movies, said this year’s finish was one to remember.
“There was a sense of disbelief, actually! It’s very possible to go decades without seeing your team win,” Hornby said. “There was no social media the last time they won the league, so we’re all joy-scrolling — every goal, from every angle.”
UEFA Champions League Final Result: PSG and Arsenal in Thrilling Finish