Marquinhos reveals what he told Gabriel after Arsenal's Champions League final penalty miss

PSG captain Marquinhos sought out Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes immediately after the Brazilian’s missed penalty handed the French club a 4-3 shootout victory in the Champions League final in Budapest on Saturday. The match had finished 1-1 after extra time, with Gabriel’s decisive fifth kick sailing over the bar to confirm PSG as back-to-back European champions.

Marquinhos, who has experienced shootout heartbreak of his own — missing the penalty that eliminated Brazil from the 2022 World Cup against Croatia — said the memory came flooding back the moment Gabriel’s kick went wide.

“As soon as he missed that penalty, I remembered what it felt like for me when I missed against Croatia to knock us out of the last World Cup,” Marquinhos said. “It was a very difficult moment for him, a big responsibility. I’ve been through it myself and know how tough it is when that happens to you as a player.”

Gabriel and Eberechi Eze both failed to convert their spot-kicks for Arsenal, while Nuno Mendes had his penalty saved by David Raya for PSG. Despite those misses, it was Gabriel’s fifth-kick failure that proved conclusive.

Marquinhos said he deliberately stepped away from the celebrations to spend time with his international team-mate. “I just wanted to take a few minutes out of my celebrations to reserve this time for him, to hug him, to wish him to get better quickly,” he said. “I told him that I’ve been through this moment and I know how difficult it is but that he can bounce back from it.”

The PSG captain was emphatic in his praise for Gabriel’s broader contribution to Arsenal’s season, arguing the defender should not be defined by a single moment. “Gabriel has played an amazing season for Arsenal, proved he is one of the best defenders in the world and shown everyone he’s a great player. He did not deserve to have all that weight, of that moment of defeat, on his shoulders.”

Both players are expected to feature for Brazil at this summer’s World Cup, where the Seleção face Morocco, Haiti, and Scotland in Group C. Marquinhos said that shared commitment to the national team made the gesture feel all the more important. “In Brazil, we need him for the World Cup. I just wanted to hug him, to show him how much he is valued by us and congratulate him for everything else he has done this season.”