Arsenal lose control after first half dominance as PSG seize tempo and exploit space in second-half surge
\nparis
\nParis St Germain held their nerve in a cagey Champions League final to retain the title by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties as Saturday\u2019s nail-biting showdown ended 1-1 after extra time, cementing the French side\u2019s status among Europe\u2019s modern greats.
\nArsenal defender Gabriel blasted his spot kick over Matvey Safonov\u2019s crossbar at the Puskas Arena, his miss confirming PSG as the first club to retain the trophy since Real Madrid completed their three-year reign from 2016 to 2018.
\nLong dismissed as glamorous underachievers despite vast resources, the Ligue 1 champions have now forged a dynasty under Luis Enrique, marrying attacking brilliance with resilience to establish themselves as the dominant force in European football.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s stronger than last year because we knew before the match just how difficult it would be to play against Arsenal,\u201d said Luis Enrique, whose side had thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 to claim Europe\u2019s elite trophy for the first time.
\n\u201cAs a club and a city, it\u2019s incredible to win, and I think we deserved it over the course of the season. The final was a real battle,\u201d added the Spanish coach.
\nThe outcome left Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice devastated but proud as his side finished their European campaign without losing a match aside from the shootout defeat in the final.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s gutting. It\u2019s devastating to lose a Champions League final on penalties,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we try to take a lot of perspective from how far we\u2019ve come as a group.
\n\u201cAn incredible season. Given it absolutely everything up until this point. We took the game to penalties. It\u2019s a lottery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s biggest stage
\nEleven days after celebrating their first Premier League title in 22 years, Arsenal looked set for a maiden triumph on Europe\u2019s biggest stage after Kai Havertz\u2019s sixth-minute opener and a first hour spent smothering PSG\u2019s vaunted attack.
\nHowever, the final became chaotic once PSG\u2019s Ousmane Dembele equalised with a penalty in the 65th minute, the pace turning frantic before exhaustion took the match to a shootout.
\nUnder Luis Enrique, PSG have won the six shootouts they have contested. The 56-year-old has now won 12 of the 13 one-off club finals he has overseen as a coach.
\nAfter brushing aside Premier League opposition on their way to the final by eliminating Chelsea and Liverpool, PSG were facing a much sterner test against an Arsenal team playing their second Champions League final after losing to Barcelona in 2006. Mikel Arteta\u2019s side took the lead when Marquinhos\u2019 clearance bounced off Arsenal\u2019s Leandro Trossard into the path of Havertz, who raced into the box and fired into the roof of the net. He is the fourth player to score in two different European Cup or Champions League finals with two different clubs.
\nIt was the nightmare scenario for PSG\u2013trailing so early against the best defence in the competition.
\nArsenal lived up to their reputation as the best team without the ball and looked perfectly content with the script, doubling up on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and suffocating the usual danger brought by the Georgian magician on the left flank.
\nPSG\u2019s Fabian Ruiz was unable to impose his usual rhythm in midfield and, despite monopolising possession for long spells, Luis Enrique\u2019s side struggled to carve out clear-cut chances.
\nBy halftime, PSG had attacked 32 times, Arsenal three times.
\nArsenal, however, were flirting with the boundaries with their challenges, and Cristhian Mosquera brought down Kvaratskhelia in the area, with Dembele converting the penalty to equalise with his eighth goal in the competition.<\/p>\n
Momentum shifts
\nThe momentum had shifted.
\nJurrien Timber and Viktor Gyokeres replaced Mosquera, and Martin Odegaard and Arsenal had a more attacking mindset, but were exposed to PSG\u2019s counterattacks and at the end of one of them, Kvaratskhelia sped into the box, only for his left-footed effort to crash onto the outside of David Raya\u2019s post.
\nAfter controlling the tempo in the first half, Arsenal played into PSG\u2019s hands as the pace increased significantly, giving too much space to Kvaratskhelia or Bradley Barcola, who replaced the Georgian winger with seven minutes left.
\nIn the 89th minute, PSG came close to giving the final an abrupt end as Vitinha\u2019s shot grazed the top of the net. Barcola also shot over the bar after a counterattack with what would have been the last kick of the game.
\nWith both teams having run out of steam, extra time was a cautious affair, and when referee Daniel Siebert blew his whistle, Arsenal had only managed one shot on target.
\nArsenal\u2019s Eberechi Eze missed his penalty before Raya saved Nuno Mendes\u2019 attempt. Gabriel had to score to keep the Gunners\u2019 hopes alive, but, facing PSG\u2019s end, he fired over.
\nThe French side were left to celebrate being European champions once again, with extra-time substitute Lucas Beraldo\u2019s goal in the shootout proving to be the winner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsenal lose control after first half dominance as PSG seize tempo and exploit space in second-half surge paris Paris St Germain held their nerve in a cagey Champions League final to retain the title by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties as Saturday\u2019s nail-biting showdown ended 1-1 after extra time, cementing the French side\u2019s status among …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98376,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98357\/revisions\/98376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}