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Arteta explains why Gabriel took the fifth penalty in Champions League final against PSG
31st May, 2026 07:42 AM
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has explained why he let defender Gabriel Magalhaes take a decisive penalty that he flew over the bar, allowing holders Paris Saint-Germain to prevail with a 4-3 margin in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
After a 1-1 score in both regulation and extra time, the tight encounter in Hungary had to be decided with spot-kicks. There, Eberechi Eze swept wide, and Nuno Mendes immediately after saw his effort saved by David Raya before the last, and decisive, moment of the shoot-out, Gabriel firing over to ensure Paris became the first side to retain the trophy since Real Madrid in 2018.
Gabriel’s miss
“We had prepared and trained for this moment. Normally the penalty takers would be Bukayo, would be Martin, would be Kai for sure. We knew we were going for extra time and penalty takers would be different players. Unfortunately, we did not have the same precision that they had,”Arteta said.
The Gunners, fresh from winning their first English Premier League title for 22 years, wasted no time in taking the lead. Leandro Trossard charged down a clearance, and Kai Havertz, scorer of the only goal in the 2021 final for Chelsea against Manchester City, strode clear before hammering his finish high past Matvei Safonov from a tight angle.
The holders were unruffled and dominated the remainder of the first half, but the Arsenal defence, superbly marshalled by Gabriel and William Saliba, allowed no clear-cut chances, and Paris’ frustrations were highlighted by Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué firing over with rare strikes from outside the area.
Arsenal had only conceded six goals heading into the decider and knew a record-equalling tenth clean sheet of this campaign would bring them a first title, but Cristhian Mosquera felled Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the area after a neat exchange of passes, and Dembélé sent David Raya the wrong way from the penalty spot to restore parity, forcing the match into extra time and eventually shoot-outs that saw PSG prevail over the Premier League champions.
