PSG 1 Arsenal 1(aet, 4-3 pens)
PSG go back-to-back in the Champions League. Over the last few years the Champions League final has been disappointing in my opinion, last year PSG battered Inter 5-0 and the last time both teams scored in the final before today was in 2018 between Real Madrid and Liverpool. I think this was always going to be a cagey game considering what’s on the line and the way Arsenal approaches these types of games, Arsenal did get off to the perfect start as Marquinhos’ attempted clearance ricocheted off Trossard sending Kai Havertz away down the left into the box as the German fired high past Safonov to give Arsenal the lead in just the 6th minute. From there the first half was dominated by PSG as Arsenal sat back with their 1-goal lead and limited PSG to basically nothing blocking anything that came their way heading into half-time, the second half was heading a similar way until Kvarastkhelia played a one-two with Dembele as Mosquera got the wrong side and brought the Georgian down in the box with the ref awarding a penalty to PSG. Ousmane Dembele stepped up and sent Raya the wrong way to bring PSG level in the 65th minute, with the game level Arsenal opened up which gave PSG a plethora of chances to get a second with Vitinha and Barcola having the best chances but neither could hit the target as the game went into extra-time. The big talking point of extra-time came in the 101st minute as Madueke was caught in a tangle with Nuno Mendes in the box but the referee didn’t see enough for a penalty as Madueke had his arm locked in Mendes’ shoulder bringing him to the ground, a contentious decision which Arsenal fans will be aggrieved about no doubt. After that it looked like both teams were happy enough to head to penalty shootout for the first time since 2016 in the Champions League final.
PSG emerge victorious in a hectic penalty shootout. Going into penalties I wasn’t confident that either goalkeeper was going to win the game for their team, David Raya has never been a penalty expert and we saw that at the Emirates last season in the FA cup against Man United when he dived far too early for every penalty as United scored every penalty in that shootout. Safonov didn’t make a save in the match over 120 minutes so you’re wondering if he’s capable of winning the match for PSG considering he’s relatively unproven at this level, in terms of who’s stepping up both teams took their most likely takers off during the match like Dembele, Vitinha and Kvarastkhelia for PSG. Arsenal took off Saka, Odegaard, Havertz, Trossard who probably would have taken a penalty so you’re relying on your squad players to win you the Champions League in the end which I think is quite funny, PSG won both tosses taking the first penalty at their end which I do think was a huge advantage in a game of fine margins. Goncalo Ramos stepped up first and buried a brilliant penalty into the top corner to give PSG the lead in the shootout, Gyokeres was up first for Arsenal and never looked like missing going low sending Safonov the wrong way. Desire Doue took second for PSG opting for a slow run-up and calmly slotted past Raya putting PSG back in front, Eze was up next for Arsenal and had a similar run-up to Doue waiting for the keeper to move first but Safonov stood still which must have surprised Eze as he hit his penalty wide giving PSG the advantage in the shootout. Nuno Mendes was third up for PSG but has his penalty brilliantly saved by Raya to renew Arsenal’s hope in the shootout. Next for Arsenal was Declan Rice who coolly slotted past Safonov to bring the shootout level again, Hakimi was next for PSG and calmly sent Raya the wrong way to put the pressure back on Arsenal with Martinelli stepping up for the Gunners and hitting the penalty of the shootout into the top corner to bring us to sudden death. Beraldo was next and hit a brilliantly penalty into the corner putting all the pressure on Gabriel who had to score to keep Arsenal in the game, unfortunately for Arsenal Gabriel skied his penalty giving PSG the win in the most dramatic of circumstances.
It’s looking like PSG are creating a dynasty in the Champions League. It goes without saying that PSG were far from their best tonight, the early goal clearly shook them which came from a stupid mistake from Marquinhos but with so much time left to play you knew that PSG were going to score at some point. The lack of attacking threat must have been worrying to Luis Enrique as Arsenal looked comfortable with 10 men behind the ball in the first half, Mosquera was clearly the weak point in the Arsenal defence and eventually PSG exploited this with some quality from Kvarastkhelia and Dembele as Mosquera got caught the wrong side and easily could have been sent off as he was already on a yellow card, after Dembele scored the penalty PSG should have scored that second goal but the frontline just wasn’t on it whether the likes of Dembele and Kvarastkhelia were injured or Arsenal just limited them it was looking spooky for PSG in the attack for whatever reason. The likes of Fabian Ruiz, Nuno Mendes, Doue weren’t on it but others like Joao Neves, Willian Pacho, Vitinha stepped up and allowed PSG to dominate the ball the entire match with 75% possession which is crazy, at the end of the day penalties is a lottery and PSG came out the right side on the night. Where does this PSG team rank in the Champions League all time after tonight?
A devastating way to end the season for Arsenal. Tonight felt like the night that Arsenal were going to win their first Champions League but the early goal might have been the worst thing to happen for them, the constant time-wasting in the first half was infuriating for everyone watching including the referee who blew for half-time when Arsenal were taking forever to take a corner six minutes into added time. It’s been the story all season despite winning the league that Arsenal’s attack still isn’t good enough with the likes of Saka, Trossard, Odegaard etc all having poor games along with the subs who weren’t much better, I think were there for the taking at 1-0 but Arsenal just sat back not even wanting to counter-attack when they won it back. After PSG equalised they did come out but were so poor going forward not having one shot on target from the 6th minute after Havertz scored to the 120th minute which just isn’t good enough in a Champions League final, I still think it’s been a successful season for Arsenal winning the Premier League but they had a real chance to create history tonight.
All focus now shifts to the World Cup. There was a few conversations regarding the Balon D’Or before the game tonight that Ousmane Dembele could go back-to-back for the award but he’s not even been close to the best player in his team this season, if there wasn’t a World Cup in the summer Kvicha Kvarastkhelia would have already wrapped up the Balon D’Or but because he’s Georgian the award will unfortunately go to someone else most likely. The World Cup starts on the 11th June and I’ll be covering as many games as I can along with previewing every group over the next two weeks before the competition starts, here’s hoping the World Cup will deliver as it always does. Anyway congratulations to PSG for being the first team to go back-to-back in the Champions League since Real Madrid, I wonder if they can do it again next year? I wouldn’t put it past them.