Mikel Arteta has spoken of his heartache after Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties, but urged his side to use the pain as fuel for future success. The Gunners came within a shootout of winning their first European crown, only for Gabriel Magalhães to sky the decisive spot-kick after a brilliant save from David Raya and a miss by Eberechi Eze.
Arteta was particularly frustrated by the referee’s decision not to award a penalty when Noni Madueke went down under pressure from Nuno Mendes in extra time. “I watched all the penalties in the competition in the last 72 hours, but that easily can be a penalty,” the Arsenal manager said. “It is not what happened and that’s it. We will have to improve to try and get a different outcome.”
Despite the disappointment, Arteta emphasised the need to channel the pain positively. “First of all you have to go through that pain, digest it, and turn it into fuel,” he said. “To improve and to reach a different level, because it would demand a different level with the quality around Europe.”
Declan Rice backed Arsenal to bounce back, saying: “We will try to take some perspective from how far we have come as a group. Some of the best teams ever have lost on penalties in finals. It’s cruel, but that’s football. The manager has told us how much he loves us as a group. This is only the start for us.”
PSG manager Luis Enrique, whose side retained their title, paid tribute to Arsenal’s defensive efforts. “Maybe today both teams deserved to win, but the way we played the whole season, I think we deserve it,” he said. “We are used to attacking against a low block but they are strong physically, they know how to defend and it was very tough.”
