Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has said that the scar of last season’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain will live forever with him.
PSG defeated Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a gruelling 1-1 draw in the UEFA Champions League final at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest.
The match saw Arsenal take an early lead when Kai Havertz scored in the 6th minute. However, the Gunners subsequently adopted an intensely defensive posture, letting PSG dominate with over 70% possession.
PSG eventually found an equaliser in the 65th minute through an Ousmane Dembélé penalty.
After extra time yielded no further goals, the match went to a penalty shoot-out where Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhães missed their spot-kicks, with Gabriel’s final strike sailing over the crossbar to secure back-to-back Champions League titles for Luis Enrique’s PSG.
This happened a week after the Gunners were crowned the Premier League champions.
It was a cruel end for Arteta and his players, who were unbeaten in 90 minutes across all 15 Champions League games and trailed for only 42 minutes and 48 seconds.
“I still have the scar, like Arsene [Wenger] says. I still have that poison in my veins,” Arteta said.
“It has to stay there because that’s when you learn and that probably is going to be a massive driver for me and everybody.”