Arsenal Lose Champions League Final on Penalties to PSG
PSG retained the Champions League on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in Budapest. Havertz scored, Gabriel and Eze missed. Saka and Rice were devastated.
Kai Havertz scored after six minutes at the Puskás Aréna. Arsenal lost the Champions League final 122 minutes later. Paris Saint-Germain beat them 4-3 on penalties in Budapest to retain the trophy, becoming the first club to defend the title since Real Madrid in 2018. Mikel Arteta's side now go into the international break holding the Premier League but nothing else.
PSG beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the 2026 UEFA Champions League final at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on Saturday, 30th May. Kai Havertz scored in the sixth minute for Arsenal, the fastest goal in a final since Mohamed Salah in 2019. Ousmane Dembélé equalised from the spot in the 62nd minute. Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhães missed Arsenal's penalties in the shootout.
How did PSG beat Arsenal in the 2026 Champions League final?
Arsenal started with the intensity their league phase produced as Havertz’s goal came after just 6 minutes. PSG settled, found their press, then earned and converted a penalty through Dembélé just past the hour. Extra time was tight with both sides resorting to the substitutes' bench in the final twenty minutes. Martin Ødegaard, Saka, Leandro Trossard and Havertz were already off when the shootout began.
During the shootout, Gonçalo Ramos, Désiré Doué, Achraf Hakimi and Lucas Beraldo scored for PSG. Gyökeres, Rice and Martinelli converted for Arsenal. Eze stuttered and dragged his wide, and Gabriel's effort flew over the bar, which meant that the PSG goalkeeper, Safonov, did not need to make a save.
Why did Gabriel take Arsenal's fifth penalty?
Arsenal's primary penalty takers, Saka, Ødegaard and Havertz, were all off the pitch by full-time. Arteta had used his substitutions to keep legs fresh through extra time and to manage Saka, who Tuchel had named in England's World Cup 26 two weeks earlier. The five players left who put their hands up were Gyökeres, Rice, Martinelli, Eze and Gabriel. Gabriel was the volunteer for the fifth.
A season to remember for Arsenal
Despite the Champions League heartbreak, Mikel Arteta's side won the Premier League on the 19th May after Manchester City failed to beat Bournemouth, ending a 22-year wait for the league title. The day after losing in Budapest, the squad rode an open-top bus through North London for the Champions Parade. Police and organisers had planned for at least 1 million along the 9km route. Reports on the day put the figure higher, with some estimates touching 1.5 million. This weekend in North London will sit alongside 2004 for the rest of the fanbase's lifetime, and it will be exciting to see what the side can achieve next year.