Paris Saint-Germain became just the second team to win back-to-back Champions League titles after rallying to beat Arsenal following a penalty shootout in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães smashed the decisive penalty over the crossbar to give PSG a 4-3 win in the shootout after the teams finished level at 1-1 following the end of extra time at the Puskas Arena.
For Arsenal, who ended their 22-year-drought to win the Premier League this season, the wait goes on to claim a first European crown.
Just as in their only previous final 20 years ago, Arsenal took an early lead. Marquinhos’ attempted clearance rebounded off Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard and into the path of Kai Havertz, who ran through on goal from near halfway before unleashing a shot from a narrow angle that found the roof of the net.
But just as in that final against Barcelona, Arsenal were pegged back in the second half. After frustrating the holders for close to an hour, the Premier League champions’ defense was finally breached when Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the penalty area.
After a VAR check and sizable delay, Ousmane Dembélé sent David Raya the wrong way from the penalty spot to tie things up.
Despite Arsenal recording just 26% possession over the course of the contest — the lowest in a Champions League final since records began in 2004, according to Opta — PSG couldn’t find another goal before a shootout was needed.
Eberechi Eze also missed an earlier spot kick, but David Raya saved from Nuno Mendes to keep Arsenal level.
Lucas Beraldo scored the last of PSG’s spot kicks, meaning Gabriel had to convert to take it to sudden death. But he blasted high over the bar to spark celebrations from PSG players and fans inside Puskas Arena.
“It’s incredible, back to back,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “From the very first day of this season the coach said it’s hard to win, and winning twice is even more difficult. So we all had to get back to work. That was the mentality.”
PSG joins Real Madrid, which won three successive titles between 2016 and 2018, as the only team to successfully defend the Champions League since the competition was rebranded in 1992.
Saturday’s final was the first to go to a penalty shootout since Madrid beat neighbors Atlético Madrid 10 years ago to win the first of those three titles.
Overall, PSG is the 10th team in European Cup history, dating back to 1955, to win consecutive titles.
The win also propels PSG boss Luis Enrique to a place among Europe’s all-time coaching greats.
The Spaniard, who also led Barcelona to the title in 2014-15, is just the fourth coach to win three or more European Cups, after Carlo Ancelotti (five) and Bob Paisley, Zinédine Zidane and Pep Guardiola with three each.
“It’s even more special because we knew before the match how difficult it would be,” Luis Enrique said. “I think it’s deserved over the course of the whole season, even if the final was very closely contested.”
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
