Fans mourned the scenes ahead of the Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest, with many claiming the game was “over”. The first-ever Champions League final kicked off at 6pm local time, with the English champions taking on the French champions in European football’s biggest match.
But it was the pre-match preparations that angered fans, with rock band The Killers performing at the opening ceremony. A huge stage was set up in the center of the pitch and the band played their biggest hits in preparation for the final.
@CwoPod1888 complained to X, saying, “The CL final had a USA Super Bowl style pregame show. The game is gone!”
@drtq_9 added: “That pre-game show was disgraceful.”
@Hyndoooo wrote: “The Champions League final pre-match show is a complete nonsense.”
@RodsThfc made the following hypothesis: “The lip sync is really bad on this pregame show. It’s obvious he’s not singing.”
@CarlyFletch replied, “We really don’t need a pregame show like this,” along with a yawning emoji.
@NinetayFour lamented: “This is a soccer game, not a concert. I’m so tired of the fans in the crowd not caring about this pre-game show.”
But not everyone was against the idea, with @JBaldock94 writing: “It may be nonsense to involve music in football, but I love The Killers. It was almost 10 years ago, and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.”
@ReeceLSport joked: “Not too woke, but I thoroughly enjoyed that Killers pre-match show.”
@Mjas09 gushed, “I think this is the best @thekillers pregame show I’ve ever seen – amazing! Let’s do it!”
On the pitch, Arsenal’s build-up seemed unaffected as the Gunners burst out of the blocks to take a 1-0 lead. The deflected clearance was picked up by Kai Havertz, who had to run half the pitch before firing into the top of PSG’s goal.
The French side struggled to settle into the game, but they had reason to be furious when the referee ignored a penalty awarded to Bukayo Saka midway through the first half. After the ball was only half cleared from a PSG corner, the English player mistimed his clearance and it appeared as if the ball hit his hand twice instead of once.
