Arsenal went down 3-4 to PSG on penalties as the Parisian side retained their UEFA Champions League title after the sides remained deadlocked following extra time in the showpiece clash of the continent’s premier competition in Budapest on Saturday.
Former French World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry slammed the London for having an inflated sense of ego in the summit clash of the continental contest after having ended their 22-year PL wait.
“We saw clearances, an Arsenal team that systematically tried to waste time. It was simply unbearable, intolerable,” Dugarry said.
“And what almost proved terrible for football and the people who love it is that they almost gave the illusion that by creating and doing so little, you can win the Champions League,”
the 1998 World Cup winner said.
“They’re a bunch of clowns,” Dugarry added.
“They arrived with an inflated ego, with Arteta saying, ‘We’re going to beat them’… I’m so glad Arsenal got the short end of the stick, and I hope that if they ever want to win it, they’ll start playing football.”
“This isn’t Arsenal! This club has a history, they’re the Gunners, there’s a legacy, a style of football. They can’t play like that, it’s impossible.”
With the victory, PSG star Achraf Hakimi became the most decorated African footballer in history, taking his tally to 19 major trophies and surpassing Ivory Coast great Yaya Toure and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o, who each have 18 major titles.
This back-to-back UCL triumph was PSG’s second in succession and Hakimi’s third overall, having previously lifted the European crown with Real Madrid in the 2017-18 campaign.
Ousmane Dembele’s second-half penalty wiped out Kai Havertz’s early opener, and missed spot-kicks from Eberechi Eze and Gabriel in the shootout ultimately cost the Gunners at the final hurdle.
PSG’s win secured their second UCL crown, while Arsenal’s wait for a first-ever continental trophy continued, despite a landmark season in which Mikel Arteta ended the club’s 22-year drought for the English top-flight title.
Havertz, who scored the winner when Chelsea lifted the UCL five years earlier, struck first for Arsenal, racing onto a rapid counter-attack, carving out space and finishing past Sefanov to send the travelling Gunners support into raptures.
Arsenal held on to their advantage as the teams went into the break, with Arteta’s men successfully preserving their lead until half-time.
PSG returned from the interval looking sharper and repeatedly probed the Arsenal defence, with Kvaratskhelia putting the backline under sustained pressure.
A foul on the surging Kvaratskhelia in the box by Mosquera led the referee to point to the spot. Having struggled to unlock Arsenal in open play, PSG capitalised as Dembele powered his penalty beyond the diving David Raya to bring the scores level.
In the shootout, Goncalo Ramos, Desire Doue, Achraf Hakimi and Beraldo all converted for PSG, while Nuno Mendes saw his effort saved by Raya. Viktor Gyokeres, Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli scored their penalties for Arsenal, but the misses by Eze and Gabriel ensured PSG clung on to their crown.
