Paris Saint-Germain became just the second team to win back-to-back Champions League titles after rallying to beat Arsenal following a penalty shootout in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães smashed the decisive penalty over the crossbar to give PSG a 4-3 win in the shootout after the teams finished level at 1-1 following the end of extra time at the Puskas Arena.
For Arsenal, who ended their 22-year-drought to win the Premier League this season, the wait goes on to claim a first European crown.
PSG joins Real Madrid, which won three successive titles between 2016 and 2018, as the only team to successfully defend the Champions League since the competition was rebranded in 1992.
Overall, PSG is the 10th team in European Cup history, dating back to 1955, to win consecutive titles.
“It’s incredible,” captain Marquinhos said. “From the very first day of this season, the coach said it’s hard to win, and winning twice is even more difficult. So we all had to get back to work. That was the mentality.”
The win also propels PSG boss Luis Enrique to a place among Europe’s all-time coaching greats.
The Spaniard, who also led Barcelona to the title in 2014-15, is just the fourth coach to win three or more European Cups, after Carlo Ancelotti (five) and Bob Paisley, Zinédine Zidane and Pep Guardiola (three each).
He has molded a team that is simply too good even for the best the continent has to offer. That includes an Arsenal team that topped the first stage of the Champions League with a perfect winning record, finishing 10 points and 10 places ahead of PSG.
That mattered little at the Puskas Arena as the French champion reaffirmed its status as the dominant force in European soccer.
“It’s even more special because we knew before the match how difficult it would be,” Luis Enrique said. “I think it’s deserved over the course of the whole season, even if the final was very closely contested.”
After demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in last year’s final, PSG endured a tougher foe as Arsenal sat deep and relied on the best defense in the competition.
Just as in their only previous final 20 years ago, Arsenal took an early lead. Marquinhos’ attempted clearance rebounded off Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard and into the path of Kai Havertz, who ran through on goal from near halfway before unleashing a shot from a narrow angle that found the roof of the net.
But just as in that final against Barcelona, Arsenal were pegged back in the second half. After frustrating the holders for close to an hour, Arsenal’s defense was finally breached when Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the penalty area.
After a VAR check and sizable delay, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé sent David Raya the wrong way from the penalty spot to tie things up.
Despite Arsenal recording just 26% possession over the course of the contest — the lowest in a Champions League final since records began in 2004, according to Opta — PSG couldn’t find another goal before a shootout was needed.
It was the first final to go to a penalty shootout since Madrid beat neighbors Atlético Madrid 10 years ago to win the first of those three titles.
Eberechi Eze also missed an earlier spot kick, but Raya saved from Nuno Mendes to keep Arsenal level.
Lucas Beraldo scored the last of PSG’s spot kicks, meaning Gabriel had to convert to take it to sudden death. But he blasted high over the bar into a section of PSG fans, who erupted in celebration along with their new two-time champion team.
It was a familiar sight as Marquinhos got his hands on the trophy for a second time and raised it aloft in the center of the field as gold confetti dropped and fireworks went off.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted his congratulations on X — “A new star is shining over Paris!” — and told PSG players they were “making all of Europe dream. France is proud.”
The next target for PSG will be to emulate Madrid’s three in a row under Zidane. And with a starting lineup in Budapest with an average age of less than 24, Luis Enrique has built a team that has the potential to dominate for years.
“It’s crazy, it’s crazy. We’re going to enjoy it first, and after we’re going to work and work again because we want more. We are really hungry. We are a young team, and we know we are really ambitious. So next season we have to go again,” PSG midfielder Désiré Doué told broadcaster TNT Sports.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.–BBC
