Arteta reveals Gabriel volunteered for fatal fifth penalty in Champions League final loss

Gabriel Magalhaes volunteered to take Arsenal’s decisive fifth penalty against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final shootout, manager Mikel Arteta confirmed in his post-match press conference after the Gunners’ defeat in Budapest.

The Brazilian centre-back blazed his effort over the bar to hand PSG the trophy, having stepped up with the score level at 3-3 in the shootout following Declan Rice’s conversion and Lucas Beraldo’s successful kick for the French side. Eberechi Eze had also missed earlier in the shootout before David Raya saved Nuno Mendes’ penalty to keep Arsenal alive.

“He wanted to take number five, honestly,” Arteta said. “We have prepared and trained for this moment. Normally, the penalty takers would be Bukayo, Martin, Kai for sure. We knew that if we got extra time on penalties, the penalty takers would be different players, still with the quality — when you see Ebz take penalties in training, he doesn’t miss any, but then you have to do it in this moment. It’s unfortunate not to have the same precision and efficiency that they had, and that’s the reason that we haven’t won.”

Arteta’s explanation came in direct response to questions raised by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who had expressed confusion over why a centre-back was entrusted with such a critical kick, particularly given that regular takers Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard had all been substituted before the shootout. “I don’t know why he went, I don’t know how he arrived to be the fifth guy but he went,” Henry said. “How he played all season and tonight was immense. But he missed it. But he didn’t hide.”

The result was particularly cruel given Gabriel’s performance across the 120 minutes. The centre-back had been arguably Arsenal’s best player in the final, limiting PSG to only a handful of half-chances throughout the match.

Kai Havertz had given Arsenal the lead after just six minutes before Ousmane Dembele equalised from the penalty spot midway through the second half, after a foul by Cristhian Mosquera. Neither side could find a winner in extra time, leaving the shootout to decide the trophy.

Declan Rice was quick to defend both Gabriel and Eze in the aftermath. “To miss a penalty in a Champions League final, obviously it’s not nice,” Rice said. “But we love them and we’re with them. It happens in football. They’re not going to be the last players to miss penalties in finals. Everyone has missed a penalty and without those two this season we wouldn’t have won the Premier League, that’s for sure. Gabriel — I’ve run out of words for him as a person and as a player.”