This time PSG, last year’s European champion in a memorable thrashing of Inter Milan, did not steamroll. They added the second title in the penalty shootout, after unsuccessfully scraping against Arsenal’s defensive cement, who took advantage of Havertz’s early goal to turn the final into a sudoku for Luis Enrique’s team.
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Nothing that happened in Budapest recalled the daring football displayed by PSG and Bayern in the semifinal. The English team more than ever recalls the old days of George Graham leading the gunners, with the famous One nil to Arsenal as the motto in the league titles won in 1989 and 1991. Arteta has revived that defensive culture, crowned with the Premier League title. PSG was warned. They would by no means find space to deploy and attack in open field, even less so after Havertz’s hammer blow in Arsenal’s first counterattack.
Havertz took advantage of a rebound in midfield to reach the area and finish the charge with a shot that entered like a shell at the near post. If the match was conditioned by the different styles of the two teams, the goal accentuated Arsenal’s trait, who ended the first half with 25% possession. In return, it forced PSG into an exhausting final both physically and mentally.
More European Cups are announced for PSG. They have money, great players, and distinctive identity marks
The match was a grinder of players. Kvaratskhelia, Dembélé, Vitinha, and Marquinhos, four undisputed stars, left the match before 120 minutes. The only satisfaction, and it was no small one, came to Paris in Kvaratskhelia’s overflow to Mosquera that preceded the penalty by the Spanish center-back, who played as right-back in Budapest. He tripped the forward in the area and PSG’s sky opened. Dembélé took advantage of the penalty.
If last year was a style exercise for the French team, this time they had to show their competitive stability. No trace of the team that earned a reputation for weakness in important moments. The breakdown could have been suspected when the successive loss of their best-known players began, but neither discouragement spread, nor did Arsenal place excessive difficulties on players like Zabarnyi, Beraldo, or Gonçalo Ramos.
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A couple of PSG chances—Kvaratskhelia hit a shot on the post—did not substantially change the match’s character. Madueke, another of those skillful left-footed players who handle better on the right, gave Arsenal a different air. He gave Nuno Mendes a good headache, especially in a disputed play that Arsenal will eternally claim as a textbook penalty, but the referee thought otherwise.
Extra time added more suffocation to two teams shattered by the effort of the match and a fierce season. Football has entered a phase of sadistic harshness with players. A few were dragging themselves on the pitch. The match time, played three hours earlier than usual, did not help either. With unconvincing excuses—improving fans’ return—it tries to justify the indisputable: a schedule favorable to the American audience.
Gabriel Magalhães missed the decisive penalty in the shootout and PSG converted theirs. They now have two European Cups, which is no small feat. More are announced. It is a team with money, great players, and very marked identity signs. Luis Enrique has imposed them, who sooner rather than later will have his monument at the gates of Parc des Princes. He has reversed the path of the team and the club. Arteta can boast of the English championship he has long pursued. Now he has to dance with Europe. Two finals, two defeats (Paris 2006, Budapest 2026).
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