BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Gabriel Magalhães looked to the sky, covered his face with his hands, and lifted his sweat-soaked Arsenal jersey over his head.
Within seconds, the Brazil defender was being consoled by his international teammate Marquinhos, the guy who would soon be lifting the European Cup for Paris Saint-Germain.
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PSG's goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, right, celebrates while Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after failing to score during a penalty shootout after extra time during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes shoots over the bar during a penalty shootout after extra time during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after missing to score during the penalty shoot out at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
PSG's Marquinhos embraces Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes after the penalty shoot out at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after missing to score during the penalty shoot out at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
One of the greatest seasons in Arsenal’s 140-year history had just ended in the most painful of fashions — a loss in a penalty shootout in the Champions League final — and it was Gabriel who missed the decisive spot kick.
“It happens, it’s football,” Arsenal star Declan Rice said, “and it’s cruel.”
No Arsenal player deserved to suffer the pain of missing the crucial penalty in the biggest club match in the game, and perhaps least of all Gabriel.
He has been the rock at the heart of the best defense in club soccer, one that had conceded just six goals in 14 Champions League games heading into the final.
One that kept clean sheets in half of Arsenal’s 38 games in the team’s run to a first Premier League title in 22 years.
One that held firm against wave after wave of attacks by the best attacking team in Europe in the Puskas Arena on Saturday.
“Gabriel — I’ve ran out of words for him as a person, as a player,” Rice said.
And it was the mark of the man that Gabriel chose to take Arsenal’s fifth penalty of the shootout. That is typically the one where a shootout gets won or lost, and this one was needed to keep Arsenal alive after an earlier miss by Eberechi Eze.
Gabriel took a deep breath, took a wide run-up to the ball — stuttering slightly at one point — and blazed his shot over the crossbar.
Arsenal, a club that has specialized in near misses in recent years, added another one to the list.
Manager Mikel Arteta was asked how he felt after the heartbreaking 4-3 shootout loss and used just one word.
“Pain,” he said.
He’d soon use another: “Pride.”
“What I said to the players and the staff is that if I said one million times ‘Thank you,’ it’s not going to be enough,” Arteta said.
Still, this was another season of huge progress by Arsenal.
A first Premier League title since Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles” of 2004.
A first Champions League final appearance in 20 years.
A domestic cup final, albeit a loss to Manchester City in the English League Cup.
The Gunners can justifiably call themselves the best team in England once again.
They were almost the best team in Europe.
“You have to go through that pain, digest it, and turn it into fuel,” Arteta said. “Improve and reach a different level, because it will demand a different level with the quality that is around Europe.”
Arsenal has been criticized by some for its pragmatic and often dour style of play under Arteta, but the team might be ready to evolve.
“First of all I will take a few days with my family and then we will start the process to review what we’ve done, and start to make some very important decisions if we want to reach another level,” Arteta said.
“We are going to have to show that ambition, because we are more than capable of doing it. But you have to demand to be very, very ambitious, and act very fast and very smart.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
PSG's goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, right, celebrates while Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after failing to score during a penalty shootout after extra time during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes shoots over the bar during a penalty shootout after extra time during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after missing to score during the penalty shoot out at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
PSG's Marquinhos embraces Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes after the penalty shoot out at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after missing to score during the penalty shoot out at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Winning the Champions League was so nice, Paris Saint-Germain had to do it twice.
PSG became back-to-back European champion by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties in a dramatic final in Budapest that ended 1-1 after extra time on Saturday.
“It’s incredible,” 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.”
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes fired the last of his team’s penalties over the bar to hand PSG the shootout win.
The French giant is only the second team to retain the trophy in the modern era after all-time king of Europe Real Madrid.
Luis Enrique became a three-time winner as a coach and has moulded a team that is simply too good even for the best the continent has to offer. That includes an Arsenal team that won the Premier League last week and topped the first stage of the Champions League with a perfect winning record, finishing 10 points and 10 places ahead of PSG.
That mattered little in Puskas Arena as PSG reaffirmed its status as the dominant force in European soccer.
“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.”
After demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in last year's final, PSG endured a tougher foe as Arsenal sat deep and relied on the best defense in the competition.
PSG dominated possession but created little after going behind to a Kai Havertz goal in the sixth minute. It took an Ousmane Dembélé penalty in the 65th to level the score and take the final to extra time for the first time in 10 years.
By going back to back, Luis Enrique achieved what his good friend Pep Guardiola could not after winning Champions Leagues at Barcelona and Manchester City. Luis Enrique joined Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Guardiola in an elite group of coaches with at least three European Cups.
The next target will be to emulate Madrid’s three in a row under Zidane from 2016-18. And with a starting lineup in Budapest with an average age of less than 24, Luis Enrique has built a team that has the potential to dominate for years.
“It’s crazy, it’s crazy. We’re going to enjoy it first, and after we’re going to work and work again because we want more. We are really hungry. We are a young team, and we know we are really ambitious. So next season we have to go again,” Désiré Doué told broadcaster TNT Sports.
Having waited 22 years to get its hands back on the Premier League trophy, Arsenal’s wait in Europe goes on.
This was its 226th game in the European Cup or Champions League without lifting the trophy. No other team has played so many without being champion.
“First of all you have to go through that pain, digest it and then turn it into fuel and improve and reach a different level because it will demand a different level with the quality that is around Europe," manager Mikel Arteta said.
“I want to congratulate PSG because they are, in my opinion, the best team in the world. What they are able to do with the ball, individual actions, I haven’t seen it (before).”
There were times when it looked as though Arsenal's Champions League losing streak would be snapped. Especially when PSG looked so short of ideas after going behind to Havertz’s breakaway early goal.
By scoring so early the tone was set and Arsenal was comfortable sitting back and soaking up pressure. PSG struggled to find openings and looked edgy in possession.
On an evening that kicked off with a pre-match show by rock band The Killers that sounded off in the acoustics of the stadium, PSG also fell a little flat and registered just one shot on target in the first half.
It was given a way back into the final when Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box and referee Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot.
Ballon d’Or holder Dembélé made no mistake, firing low to the left as Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya dived the wrong way.
Red flares were lit by PSG fans, likely as much in relief as celebration.
There were rare chances for PSG to win in regulation. Kvaratskhelia hit the post in the 77th after a rapid breakaway and substitute Bradley Barcola wasted another opportunity to seal it at the death when firing wide.
Arsenal was limited to a 24.7% possession average — the lowest in a final since records began in 2004, according to stats provider Opta. But Arteta's dogged and determined team pushed PSG all the way, even in the shootout.
Eberechi Eze missed an earlier spot kick for Arsenal but Raya saved from Nuno Mendes to keep the score level.
Lucas Beraldo converted 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 into a section of PSG fans, who erupted in celebrations along with their new two-time champion team.
It was a familiar sight as Marquinhos got his hands on the trophy for a second time and raised it aloft in the center of the field as gold confetti and fireworks exploded around the team.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted his congratulations on X: “A new star is shining over Paris!” and told PSG players they were “making all of Europe dream. France is proud.”
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes shoots over the bar during a penalty shootout after extra time during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
PSG owner Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaifi lifts the trophy after defeating Arsenal at the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
PSG's head coach Luis Enrique, top, celebrates with players after winning the Champions League final soccer match against Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes shoots over the bar during a penalty shootout after extra time during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
PSG players celebrate after penalty shootout at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
PSG fans celebrate after PSG's Ousmane Dembele scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz, left, scores his side's opening goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Arsenal fans react during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)
Arsenal's Kai Havertz celebrates after scoring during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring from a penalty kick during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 30, 2026. AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
PSG's head coach Luis Enrique directs a training session ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Arsenal supporters pose for a photo the day before the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta meets the media ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Arsenal, in Budapest, Friday 29, 2026. (Ina Fassbender, Pool Photo via AP)
Arsenal's Declan Rice warms up during a training session ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele meets the media ahead of the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Arsenal, in Budapest, Friday 29, 2026. (Franck Fife, Pool Photo via AP)
