Declan Rice has insisted that Arsenal's penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final will not define Mikel Arteta's team. The Gunners lost 4-3 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 following extra time in Budapest.
Arsenal took the lead after just six minutes through Kai Havertz, but a mistake from Cristhian Mosquera allowed Ousmane Dembele to equalise from the penalty spot. Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes missed their spot kicks in the shootout, handing PSG the trophy.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Rice described the loss as 'devastating' but drew comfort from the progress his side has made this season. 'It's devastating to lose the Champions League final on penalties but I'm trying to take a lot of perspective from how far we've come as a group,' he said.
Rice added that the misses by Eze and Gabriel were 'cruel' but stressed that they would not be the last players to miss penalties in finals. 'Without them two this season we wouldn't have won the Premier League, that's for sure,' he said.
The midfielder also revealed that Arteta addressed the group after the defeat, telling them how much he loves them and that the result would not define them. 'This isn't going to define us,' Rice concluded.
