Rice insists Champions League final defeat on penalties will not define Arsenal

Declan Rice has urged Arsenal not to let their Champions League final defeat define them after Paris Saint-Germain beat the Gunners 4-3 on penalties in Budapest, with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhães missing their spot kicks in the shootout that followed a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Arsenal had taken the lead just six minutes into the final when Kai Havertz blasted home the opener, only for a mistake from Cristhian Mosquera to hand Ousmane Dembélé the chance to equalise from the penalty spot. Neither side could be separated across 90 minutes and an additional 30 minutes of extra time, leaving the outcome to be settled from twelve yards.

“It’s devastating to lose the Champions League final on penalties but I’m trying to take a lot of perspective from how far we’ve come as a group,” Rice said after the match. “An incredible season, given absolutely everything up to this point. We took the game to penalties and it’s a lottery. You either win on pens or lose on pens — some of the best teams ever have lost on penalties in finals and we were on the receiving end of that tonight.”

Rice was quick to defend Eze and Gabriel, the two players whose missed kicks proved decisive. “They’re devastated. That happens in football — they’re not going to be the last players to miss penalties in finals. Everyone’s missed a penalty and without them 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, as a player, and Eze as well, the crucial goals he’s come up with for us this year. It happens, it’s football, it’s cruel. We take the positives and we’ll keep going.”

The midfielder also revealed how manager Mikel Arteta addressed the squad in the immediate aftermath of the loss. “He’s gutted. We’re all gutted. It’s the Champions League final — the emotions and the stakes are so high,” Rice said. “It’s cruel but he just spoke about how much he loves us as a group, this season, what we’ve done in terms of how we’ve given 100% in every single game. We got over the line in the Premier League and this would have been one step further but it wasn’t meant to be. This isn’t going to define us.”

The result means Arsenal finish a landmark season with the Premier League title secured but the Champions League just out of reach, beaten in the final by a PSG side who held their nerve when it mattered most.