It’s merciless when it goes to penalties in a Champions League final. The last time was ten years ago in Real Madrid’s win against Atletico Madrid. On Saturday, it was PSG’s turn to send Arsenal to second place on penalties. After the game, there were of course many who were surprised that Mikel Arteta chose a penalty taker who has never before been tested on this in a match.
The pressure was on Gabriel, around 9 p.m. on Saturday night. In Arsenal’s first Champions League final since 2006, the Brazilian player went to the penalty spot as Arsenal’s fifth man, demanding to score in order not to give PSG the victory. Gabriel couldn’t handle the pressure, the ball disappeared over the goal, the PSG players could storm the pitch in euphoric joy at the back-to-back title.
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Arsenal’s new penalty taker couldn’t handle the pressure
Gabriel has made 261 appearances for Arsenal, but has never taken a penalty in a game before, and after the game, Mikel Arteta was asked why it ended like this.
“Of course he wanted to take penalty number five. We have prepared and trained for this moment,” Mikel Arteta said according to Football London.
The Arsenal manager also points out that several of the regular shooters were in the starting line-up and were substituted after 120 minutes.
“Normally the penalty takers would have been Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz, but we knew that if the game went to a penalty shootout, the penalty takers would be other players, but we still have quality.
Eberechi Eze wasted Arsenal’s second penalty when he kicked it wide of the post.
“When ‘Ebz’ takes a penalty kick in training, he doesn’t miss a single thing, but it’s different to do it in a moment like this. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same precision and efficiency as they did, and that’s why we didn’t win,” Arteta concluded.
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