Manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Magalhães personally asked him to award Arsenal the crucial fifth goal in their penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.
Arsenal lost 4-3 on penalties after a tense 1-1 draw at Budapest’s Puskas Arena on Saturday.
The Gunners took the lead with a goal from Kai Havertz, but Ousmane Dembele converted a penalty in the second half to equalize for PSG, after which Luis Enrique’s side defended their European title.
Gabriel ultimately needed to score to keep Arsenal alive, but the Brazilian defender’s shot went over the bar.
After the match, Arteta explained that Gabriel wanted the responsibility of taking the fifth penalty.
Mikel Arteta had to change plans
Arsenal had prepared for just that situation in training, but plans for the shootout were changed as some of their usual shooting personnel were not on the pitch by the time penalties began.
Arteta said Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz would normally be among Arsenal’s main penalty options. However, after extra time, the order of play had to be adjusted.
Ebelesi Eze also came forward but missed Arsenal’s second penalty, allowing Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli to score.
PSG wasn’t perfect either, with David Raya saving a shot from Nuno Mendes, but the French side showed enough composure to get over the line.
“He wanted to take No. 5.” As reported by the Standard, Arteta said:
“Obviously we have been preparing and training for this moment and normally it would definitely be Bukayo, Martin and Kai who would take the penalty.
“Today we knew that if we went into overtime and penalties, it would be another player who would get the penalty.
“The quality is still there. Even if we give Ebbs a penalty in training, he doesn’t miss anything. But we have to do it in this moment.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same precision and efficiency as them. That’s why we didn’t win.”
Gabriel showed great character to step up.
That’s the cruel thing about gunfights. No matter how much you prepare, practice, and analyze, you’ll find that the actual moment feels completely different.
Arteta admitted that Arsenal lacked the same precision and efficiency as PSG, which ultimately made the difference.
It will be a painful moment for Gabriel, but it also says something about his character.
Center backs are usually not desperate to take penalties, which are the most pressurizing part of a Champions League final. He wanted to take responsibility.
Sadly for him and Arsenal, it didn’t work out. I shouldn’t blame Gabriel too much. Admittedly the penalty was poor and Arsenal lost any chance of keeping the shootout alive. But running away from responsibility is worse than going missing.
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