As the ball left Gabriel’s left boot and sailed over the crossbar, into the 17,000 PSG fans, you couldn’t help but feel for the Brazilian. After holding the reigning champions to a 1-1 draw for 120 minutes, Gabriel skied his penalty to ensure PSG won 4-3 to retain their Champions League title.
This is a player who had been immense all season, popped up time and time again at both ends of the pitch, now staring into the abyss, completely and utterly numb. You could see the pure devastation behind his eyes.
Embed from Getty ImagesThen the cameras panned to Mikel Arteta, holding a gutted Eberechi Eze like a young boy. Penalties – the worst way to lose a football match. History was beckoning and two players who had been so good all season couldn’t find the target when it mattered most.
It’s been a long season for the Premier League champions, who have played 63 games across all competitions this season. It’s more than any other team in the top five leagues in Europe. A lengthy campaign so nearly marked with a first Champions League trophy, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
But that’s football, and just like life, it isn’t always fair.
Officiating wasn’t up to standard
On plenty of occasions this season, fans have insisted that officials were biased towards Arsenal, and the Champions League final was no different. A penalty shout for a Bukayo Saka handball was waved off in the first half, and in the second, Cristhian Mosquera’s challenge that led to PSG’s equalising penalty didn’t warrant a second yellow card.
However, Arsenal were also hard done by at times during the match. Bizarrely, referee Daniel Siebert blew up for half-time just as Arsenal were about to take a corner. Something immediately felt wrong.
Especially when in the second half Bradley Barcola was allowed to counter in way after the minimum of six minutes of additional time was up and almost netted the winner. Yes, it’s a minimum, but no more time was wasted or missed than in the first half.
The Arsenal attack had died and possession was being recycled before Barcola nabbed the ball and broke through, but the whistle should have been blown when the final Arsenal attack fizzled out. Time was up. Why give PSG one more opportunity when Bukayo Saka wasn’t afforded the same grace from the corner flag an hour earlier?
VAR should have been more present
From a neutral’s perspective, it felt like double standards.
VAR is to blame too. This was a Champions League final, the pinnacle of domestic football nd key decisions weren’t being checked. Saka’s potential handball: waved off by Siebert and not checked by VAR. Nunos Mendes’ potential foul on Noni Madueke: waved off by Siebert and not checked by VAR.
Whether or not the call was right, it’s the principle. This game had far too much at stake not to double-check decisions. A penalty shout not being looked at again in extra time of a European Cup final is diabolical.
That’s not to jump on the bandwagon that the officials are corrupt. Siebert has refereed a few Arsenal games this season in the Champions League, including the semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid. If anything, Arsenal fans would have initially been pleased with the selection ahead of kick-off.
Siebert just had a poor game. He got a lot wrong for both sides. Mosquera’s foul on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is an interesting one. He wasn’t shown a second yellow because his challenge was considered clumsy rather than deliberate, but still a big shout.
Embed from Getty ImagesArsenal’s tactics were spot on
You have to feel for the Spaniard, who could have easily won Player of the Match if not for that costly error that gifted PSG an opportunity to equalise. When Ousmane Dembele stepped up, everyone in Budapest and across the globe knew what was going to happen next.
Otherwise, Mosquera didn’t put a foot wrong and kept Kvaratskhelia at bay until he was substituted in the 83rd minute. In fact, Arsenal’s defence as a whole held up so well defensively. Many disliked the way Arteta’s side set up, but biases aside, no one can say that tactically his approach wasn’t impressive.
Arsenal defied all the odds within six minutes when Kai Havertz broke the deadlock with a strike into the roof of the net that ended up being his side’s only shot on target across 120 minutes of football.
Jamie Carragher summed it up perfectly. Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: “The way they [Arsenal] played was the only was they could have played against PSG.”
Yes PSG dominated possession, yes the Gunners didn’t create a lot of chances, but when push comes to shove, they gave themselves the best opportunity to pull off what many considered impossible.
Embed from Getty ImagesArsenal will be back
Last season in the Champions League final, PSG thrashed another defensively astute side in Inter Milan 5-0. Ahead of kick-off in the Hungarian capital, many said Arsenal would get battered, a repeat of last year’s final.
In reality, Arteta got his game plan spot on. In the end though, the French giants were able to hold their nerve.
Defeat in that manner is incredibly tough to take, but heartbreak will shape this Arsenal team.
Look at Manchester City, they had to feel the sting of losing a Champions League final to Chelsea before going on to win it two years later. For Arsenal, this feels like a defeat that marks the beginning of a very special few years.
The Gunners were on the cusp of immortality and failed, but one thing you can guarantee is that they will be back. Arsenal fans, you should be immensely proud of your boys. It’s not done.
Written by Isabelle Martin
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