Arsenal lose Champions League final to PSG: Progress but was this a missed opportunity for Mikel Arteta in Budapest? | Football News

Arsenal’s players stood there as Paris Saint-Germain celebrated. Myles Lewis-Skelly shook his head. Kai Havertz was still in discussions with the referee. Declan Rice and Gabriel applauded, almost forcing themselves to watch as their penance.

Once the trophy lift was done, off they trudged. For Arsenal, this will be fuel, as Mikel Arteta is so fond of putting it. They used their near misses in the Premier League to propel them forwards. Doing the same in the Champions League is the challenge now.

It must be difficult to see it that way, though, because Arsenal were desperately close to the season of all seasons in Budapest. PSG dominated the ball and looked the superior side but when Arteta talked of fine margins, you could appreciate his point.

For long periods, it was a defensive masterclass. Seldom have PSG been made to look so toothless as in a first half in which Arsenal had the two best chances. Luis Enrique’s side had 76 per cent of the possession but scored none of the goals.

Thereafter, it was about penalties granted and denied, scored and missed. David Raya produced the only save of the shoot-out and still finished it slumped with his head in his hands. Arsenal beaten by the odd goal in seven. They pushed a great side to the limit.

For the supporters who stayed behind to commiserate with their players long after Gabriel’s attempt had cleared the crossbar, it is a familiar feeling of frustration. No team has played more games in the European Cup – 226 – without winning the trophy.

But while Arsenal’s previous final appearance in Paris two decades ago felt like an ending, this is a little different. Back then, the club had just said farewell to Highbury. It was Robert Pires’ last game. Thierry Henry was gone the following year.

This should be just the start for the newly crowned Premier League champions. Key players are in their prime. Others are on their way up. The sense of progress underlined by their Premier League title is echoed by their growing strength in Europe.

Arsenal have gone through a 15-game Champions League season having not lost inside 120 minutes. Two years ago, they exited in the last eight. Last time around, it was the last four. They are edging nearer – to PSG and to the prize. You win or you learn.

But that sense of an opportunity missed will linger. Because while PSG had the stronger starting line-up, this was a game that should have tilted their way as time passed. Did Arsenal do enough to grasp the game? To seize some control when the moment arrived?

Luis Enrique substituted Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, then Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele. In extra-time, off went captain Marquinhos and player of the match Vitinha. Arsenal appeared to have more strength in depth than their illustrious opponents.

In that context, might the plan have changed? Arteta talked afterwards of PSG being so good that this forced Arsenal to play the game that they did. But Raya’s decision to kick long throughout was a choice. A more balanced approach was possible.

Arteta knows there are no guarantees that the chance will come again. Valencia reached back-to-back Champions League finals at the start of the century. The last team to lose a Champions League final on penalties was Atletico Madrid a decade ago.

Neither club have won the trophy yet.

Of course, Arsenal need not look far for inspiration. It was not so long ago that PSG were seen as the club that could not get over the line. Now it is they who will not relinquish this trophy and there is talk of dynasties and domination under the peerless Luis Enrique.

Could that ever be Arsenal? Arteta wants to keep building. He will tweak, in the market and on the pitch, perhaps make this team more expansive again. Certainly, he has earned more resources in attack. At times, he was trying to perform surgery with a hammer.

But as his players take the adulation back in north London, the encouragement for Arteta and for the Arsenal supporters is that the journey is not over. The looks on the faces as PSG’s players cavorted in front of them revealed that much. The hunger remains.

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