It is no secret that Premier League title glory carries the power to transform Arsenal. For the best part of an hour in Budapest, it looked capable of propelling them to a whole new stratosphere.
Top-flight bridesmaids? Not this season. Nearly men? Regrettably on the banks of the Danube, by the finest of margins, unfortunately it was so.
Once the dust settles, there will be a realisation that there is serious potential for an Arsenal dynasty because Mikel Arteta has not only restored the Gunners' reputation as a serious outfit - he has also ensured they will consistently dine at the top table.
Like it or not, English football's 'Unbearables' will not go away. However, for top teams to be remembered among the pantheon of greats, cynically, these opportunities cannot pass you by. For now, this just feels like another cruel step in Arsenal's long-winding journey.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City both had to endure Champions League heartbreak to taste what life is like at the summit of the continental mountain.
It will not make the nature of this bitter defeat any easier to swallow but history suggests brighter days - do not forget, Arteta flirted with the sack in December 2020 following the club's worst start to a campaign in a generation - lie ahead.
But, this final will be tinged with regret and laced with what-ifs. It was not just about the lottery of a penalty shootout. Had Jurrien Timber been fully fit, perhaps he would have contained PSG's Georgian locksmith Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the 62nd minute.
We will never know whether he would have lunged in like makeshift right-back Cristhian Mosquera to axe down the 25-year-old maverick. That also cannot be the sole moment attributed to this gut-wrenching defeat, though.
While Arsenal flew out of the traps, there is a firm argument a cautious, overly defensive approach was then applied. That prudence lifted after Ousmane Dembele had equalised from 12 yards.
Declan Rice made it clear in his post-match interview with TNT Sports that PSG would have relished the prospect of a straight shootout.
Maybe the Gunners would have been utterly foolish to go for the throat against a side that has scored 125 goals in all competitions this season but the opening five minutes at the Puskas Arena do suggest the French champions underestimated Arsenal.
There was an arrogance that as the reigning continental kings, they could coast and grow into this game, slowly but surely. Arsenal pressed and immediately suffocated them. But they then sat back and placed trust in their rock-solid backline, which has kept 32 clean sheets in all competitions, to guide them over the line.
Havertz's second chance, the slickest move from either team of the entire match, should have provided Arteta's men with confidence that they had the attacking quality to cause further problems.
David Raya's sloppy second-half kick conveyed that the nerves after Dembele's penalty were spreading like wildfire.
Then, Arsenal composed themselves, they started to play with a really impressive intensity. So why did it take a PSG leveller to spark them into gear? They looked reasonably comfortable defending but there was never any real desire to get players up the pitch and stretch Luis Enrique's side.
From there, it all became a bit frantic. Bukayo Saka was substituted for Noni Madueke and the former's shake of the head told its own story.
While Madueke played well and should have earned a penalty, a frontline of him, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres never truly felt capable of finishing the job. PSG looked blunt after Kvaratskhelia and Dembele were withdrawn and given what eventually transpired, that is another element of this loss that will cause frustration and pain.
There is no shame whatsoever in losing to Enrique's Parisian Globetrotters, particularly on penalties, but given the Premier League champions were still in all four competitions right up into late-March, the undeniable disappointment here still feels sinking.
Arsenal had a strong whiff of what European glory might taste like and it just does not feel right or fitting that after such a mammoth effort, this spectacular season still somehow ends in heartbreak.
