PSG beat Arsenal on penalties to win Champions League – How did they do it? Should Madueke have had penalty?
Paris Saint-Germain have won the Champions League after beating Arsenal 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.
Arsenal took the lead just six minutes into the game. A fast break up the pitch ended with Kai Havertz firing high and hard into the roof of the net. There was a debatable handball in the build-up to the goal after the ball appeared to make contact with Leandro Trossard’s upper arm, but it was not given. Bukayo Saka also survived a shout for a penalty after appearing to handle in the box.
However, PSG were given an opportunity to draw level just after the hour mark when Cristhian Mosquera fouled Khvicha Kvaratshkelia in the box. Arsenal did not concede a single penalty during the Premier League season. Ousmane Dembele converted the spot kick in the 65th minute. A remarkable stop by David Raya cut short a PSG chance, but the French side then came close to winning the game in the final minute of normal time, only for Vitinha’s strike to fly just over the bar.
There was controversy in the 101st minute as Noni Madueke appeared to be felled in the box by Nuno Mendes. However, referee Daniel Siebert said it was not a foul, a decision not overturned by the video assistant referee.
After extra-time, the game went to a penalty shootout — the first time a Champions League final had done so since 2015-16. After three scored penalties in a row, Eberechi Eze sent his spot kick wide. However, David Raya saved the next penalty from Nuno Mendes, and Declan Rice levelled the shootout. The game, though, was decided after Lucas Beraldo made the shootout 4-3 when Gabriel sent his penalty over the bar, giving PSG the win.
The Athletic’s James McNicholas, Stuart James, Tim Spiers, Liam Tharme and our refereeing expert Graham Scott analyse the key talking points from the game.
How did the penalty shootout play out?
Amid unbearable tension, it was cruel fate that Gabriel, one of the game’s outstanding players, missed the crucial penalty. It was, however, a surprise to see the Brazilian step up to take Arsenal’s fifth spot kick, ahead of the likes of Noni Madueke or perhaps Martin Zubimendi, and he blazed his effort over the bar.
After the first three takers (Goncalo Ramos, Viktor Gyokeres and Desire Doue) all scored, in the lottery of penalties the pendulum of momentum first swung to PSG when Eberechi Eze sent Arsenal’s second penalty wide of keeper Matvei Safonov’s post.
However, David Raya brilliantly saved from Nuno Mendes before Declan Rice levelled things up at 2-2.
Achraf Hakimi and Gabriel Martinelli both sent the keepers the wrong way with their team’s fourth penalties to effectively take them to sudden death. Lucas Beraldo, a 105th-minute substitute for PSG, held his nerve with their fifth penalty, placing it into the bottom corner, placing all the pressure on Gabriel, who, after being made to wait while the referee asked for the ball to be respotted, sent his shot comfortably over the bar.
Gabriel’s penalty flies over the bar (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Safonov hadn’t looked like saving a penalty, and it was Arsenal’s two misplaced efforts off target that won them the trophy.
“I feel incredibly sorry for Gabriel, I thought he was the outstanding player on the pitch today,” Peter Schmeichel said on CBS Sports.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry added: “I was surprised (to see Gabriel step up) to be honest, but for me if you have the courage to go there and take it, you are someone who has the audacity and the gumption.”
It was the first Champions League final to go to penalties since 2015-16 when Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid. For Arsenal, after a tremendous effort for 120 minutes, it was the cruellest way to lose.
Victors PSG continued their perfect record of shoot-out victories under Luis Enrique; this was their sixth out of six.
Tim Spiers
What will that mean to PSG?
After waiting so long to win the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain have now completed back-to-back successes, joining an exclusive group of clubs. Their penalty shootout victory over Arsenal means they are only the second team in the modern era to win the competition in consecutive seasons, after Real Madrid, who won three in a row between 2016 and 2018.
For Luis Enrique, the manager who has transformed this football club since taking over in 2023, it’s his third Champions League triumph, following success with Barcelona in 2015.
The contrast with last season’s final, when PSG swept Inter Milan aside with a 5-0 victory, was stark. After falling behind to Kai Havertz’s early goal, PSG were frustrated for long periods, dominant in possession but offering little in the way of a goal threat. Parity finally came via Ousmane Dembele’s penalty kick midway through the second half.
Although Nuno Mendes saw his penalty saved in the shootout, both Eberechi Eze and Gabriel missed from the spot for Arsenal, with the latter’s kick meaning that the trophy is going back to Paris.
Stuart James
How will Arsenal feel after that defeat?
Arsenal will feel absolutely gutted. It has been a long, hard Champions League campaign — and this was an exhausting, absorbing final. For it to be decided by a penalty shootout is cruel.
Penalties were not necessarily a great omen for Arsenal. They had previously lost two European finals on penalties: the Cup Winners’ Cup Final of 1980 and the UEFA Cup Final of 2001. This defeat makes it an unfortunate hat-trick.
Arsenal lost both elements of the toss, meaning not only would they take the second penalty, but they’d also have to do so in front of the PSG fans.
Despite David Raya’s save from Mendes, errant spot-kicks from Eberechi Eze and Gabriel meant that PSG were able to retain the crown.
Arsenal will naturally be disappointed — but they have still enjoyed a superb season. Tomorrow, they will parade the Premier League title through Islington.
What’s more, they’re a team who’ve already shown that coming up does not deter them. This season, they demonstrated they have learnt from being Premier League runners-up, evolving into winners. Arteta will now look to apply the same formula in Europe.
James McNicholas
Gabriel reacts after his penalty miss (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Should the challenge on Madueke have been a penalty?
James McNicholas: I think Madueke is pretty cute: he grips Mendes’ arm as he goes past him. But he did then appear to be barged in the back, having got in front of his man. I was surprised to see the referee be so emphatic in his decision to let it go.
Liam Tharme: At full speed, my initial reaction was penalty — Madueke went tumbling and it looked clumsy by Nuno Mendes. On the replay, though, Madueke is the one to initiate contact and he’s anticipating a foul, already starting to go down, a coming together more than anything else.
Stuart James: My feeling was that Madueke had got around Mendes – he had the inside track on him, and the PSG left-back was in panic mode. You’ll always get grappling in that scenario. But I was expecting a penalty.
Tim Spiers: Mendes’ challenge is desperate, but clearly the reason it isn’t given is the fact Madueke has his arm locked into Mendes too. It certainly wasn’t clear-cut enough for VAR to overturn the referee’s decision, although whether the ref actually sees Madueke’s lesser infringement is debatable.
Madueke is felled in the box (TNT Sports)
But there is contact between Madueke and Mendes’ arm before he is taken down (TNT Sports)
Madueke goes down (TNT Sports)
The expert view
Arsenal will feel aggrieved that Madueke did not win a penalty during the first half of extra time. It’s a clumsy challenge by Mendes, and his guilty look towards the referee tells us that he feared the worst.
I watched the PSG defender’s actions all through the challenge, and some angles suggested he had committed an offence, others didn’t. While the players were locking arms, they are both competing for space, but all the contact looks well within acceptable thresholds.
Once the referee — presumably with some input from his assistant — decided to play on, Arsenal’s chances of winning a penalty were gone, because I cannot imagine any VAR would view those replays and recommend his colleague take another look. It simply is not an obvious error.
Arsenal could point to the referee’s relatively low tolerance of physical contact elsewhere on the pitch, which led to a succession of free kicks being awarded against them, especially in the second half. Fair enough.
But like it or not, the threshold for penalising potential offences in the penalty area is much higher. I think that’s only right, given the sanction.
There will be plenty of comments along the line of ‘I’ve seen them given’, and I doubt a VAR would have seen enough to overturn a penalty had one been awarded.
But ultimately, I would rather defend the referee for keeping out of this one than try to build a defence had he succumbed to pressure and pointed to the spot.
Graham Scott
Did Arsenal’s first substitutions come too late?
Dembele’s 65th-minute equaliser was immediately followed by a double substitution. Mosquera, who had felled Kvaratskhelia to concede the spot-kick, came off for the returning Jurrien Timber. Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, was replaced by Viktor Gyokeres.
For Mosquera, being immediately withdrawn was presumably painful — but certainly the lesser of two evils. He was arguably lucky to escape being sent off for a second yellow card.
The 21-year-old Spaniard acquitted himself well in an unfamiliar right-back role, but his duel with Kvaratskhelia always looked like something of a mismatch. Arteta may be left wondering whether he could have introduced Timber even a minute or two earlier.
The timing of the substitution suggests the Dutchman was always scheduled to play for half an hour. Unfortunately for Arsenal, the change came just a few minutes too late.
Arteta was right to respond to the equaliser with changes. As stoutly as Arsenal had defended, they had lost their composure on the ball and threat in attack. The substitutions helped Arsenal to regain a foothold in the game.
James McNicholas
Arteta’s changes made a difference (Antonin Thuiller/AFP via Getty Images)
Why was Trossard not penalised for a handball in the build-up to Havertz’s goal?
As Arsenal built up to their opening goal, the ball was fired at Trossard, and it appeared to hit his upper arm.
The move then developed further up the pitch, with Arsenal taking the lead through Havertz.
However, there is a good reason why the video assistant referee did not overturn the on-pitch decision to give Arsenal the goal.
Trossard’s arm was in line with his body, so it did not have the effect of making his body shape unnaturally bigger. There was also no deliberate action by the player.
Graham Scott
The ball hitting Trossard’s arm (TNT Sport)
And why was it not a penalty when the ball struck Saka’s hand in the area?
When the ball came across to Saka just inside the Arsenal area, the forward went to clear, but misjudged his kick. The ball then bounced up and eventually struck his hand.
However, this happened after a significant deflection of Saka’s body (from his chest) and therefore, it was the correct decision to not award a penalty.
Graham Scott
Was Mosquera lucky to avoid a second yellow?
It was definitely a penalty and there was a strong case for a second yellow card to Mosquera.
However, it’s more clumsy and careless, not reckless, and there is still a promising attack in the form of a penalty.
Graham Scott
Just how good was Gabriel during the game?
It felt like attack against defence for so much of this game, and while that required a huge collective effort from every Arsenal player in terms of discipline, concentration and determination, it was impossible to overlook the individual performance of Gabriel, especially in the first half.
The Brazilian was like a magnet to the ball whenever it came into the Arsenal penalty area, but there were two moments in particular that stood out. The first was a do-or-die challenge on Desire Doue that ended up with Gabriel prone after cleanly winning the ball. The second saw the central defender somehow wrap a leg around Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was bearing down on goal, and nick the ball away again.
There was no margin for error on either occasion — get it wrong and it’s a penalty, as Mosquera discovered later in the game — but Gabriel’s timing was perfect. He’s a throwback in the sense that he loves defending, and also in what feels like an old-school way: body on the line, totally committed. Arsenal needed that more than ever here.
It was so unfortunate that after such an excellent performance, it was his penalty that led to his side losing the game.
Stuart James
Gabriel’s excellent tackle on Doue (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Both Arsenal and PSG kicked the ball away from kick-off — why?
The first touches of the Champions League final were Declan Rice scooping the ball up and volleying it deep into the PSG half. Likewise, with PSG seven minutes later, kicking off after Havertz opened the scoring, they sent the ball long towards the corner flag.
What’s going on? Risk-averse tactics from kick-offs have become really common over the past two seasons. PSG did the same en route to winning a maiden European crown last year. It’s all about gaining territory early and preventing the opposition from being able to press — a super strength for both Arsenal and PSG.
These sides clearly feel that they are at a bigger risk with the ball than without it, and thus try to start the game by leaning on their defensive strengths.
Liam Tharme