Mikel Arteta has revealed he “honestly wanted” Gabriel Magalhães to award Arsenal’s fifth penalty against Paris Saint-Germain after Thierry Henry questioned his former club’s decision. Gunners defender Gabriel went for the decisive spot-kick in the Champions League final, but his shot went over the crossbar, giving PSG the trophy and breaking Arsenal’s hearts.
Supporters and pundits alike wondered why a centre-back would be responsible for such a pivotal penalty. Regular players such as Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard were replaced, with Gabriel stepping up. Arsenal legend Henry was among those who questioned the call-up, telling CBS Sports: “I always say I respect you when you go and take penalties. I don’t know why he left, I don’t know how he got to be the fifth player, but he’s gone. The way he played all season and tonight was invaluable. But he missed it. But he didn’t hide.”
At the post-match press conference, Arteta gave Henry an explanation. “Honestly, he wanted to be number five,” the Gunners manager said of Gabriel. “We have been preparing and training for this moment.
“Normally, the penalty takers would definitely be Bukayo, Martin and Kai. We knew that if there was extra time on penalties, the penalty takers would be different players. When you see Ebuzu (Eberechi Eze) take penalties in training, he hasn’t made a single mistake, but he still has this quality. But in this moment we have to do it.”
“It’s a shame we don’t have the same precision and efficiency as them and that’s why we don’t win.”
Declan Rice leveled the score at 3-3 in the shootout after Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya saved Nuno Mendes’ penalty to cancel out Eze’s mistake. PSG’s Lucas Berardo came forward to give the French giants the advantage again before Gabriel went wide.
The Brazilian was undoubtedly Arsenal’s standout performer in the final, limiting PSG to just a handful of half-chances. Havertz gave Arteta’s side a 1-0 lead with six minutes remaining in Budapest, but Ousmane Dembele equalized with a penalty midway through the second half following a foul on Cristian Mosquera.
Nothing could separate the two sides and the match went to penalties, but mistakes by Eze and Gabriel proved decisive. “Obviously missing a penalty in the Champions League final was not good,” Rice told TNT Sports.
“But we love them and we are with them. That happens in football. They won’t be the last players to miss a penalty in a final. Everyone has missed a penalty and we wouldn’t have won the Premier League this season without those two, that’s for sure.”
“Gabriel, I have no words for him, both as a person and as a player. Eze has scored some important goals for us this season. It happens. This is football, it’s cruel. We will take the positives and keep moving forward.”
