It was a night when Arsenal gave everything, battling until the last, even when it looked over. Nobody should fault the spirit of Mikel Arteta’s players. They emerged with honour. But it was a night when they simply could not bend this showpiece occasion to the force of their energy and will.
When it really was over, this raucous venue pounded to a delirious beat. Paris Saint-Germain are going to their second Champions League final, deserved winners across the two legs. They will fancy their chances of a first title when they face Inter Milan in Munich.
There was drama throughout, Arsenal refusing to accept their fate. When Vitinha addressed a penalty in the 69th minute for 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate, David Raya saved. After Achraf Hakimi did score for PSG moments later, Arsenal dug deep, Bukayo Saka cutting the deficit after a deflected cross from the substitute, Leandro Trossard. Saka was excellent.
We have almost come to expect the ridiculous in this competition, particularly after Inter’s epic semi-final win over Barcelona on Tuesday night and when Riccardo Calafiori, on as a substitute crossed low, there was Saka for the equaliser on the night. Except that he blazed high; a gilt-edged miss.
There was to be no fairytale for Arsenal, not enough of the magic moments that Arteta had called for; merely heartbreak, a familiar tale of falling just short, even if pride was present and correct. PSG had taken the lead through Fabián Ruiz’s piledriver midway through the first half, a settler for them after Arsenal had started aggressively. After so much frustration of their own in this tournament, they believe they are poised to end the wait for the trophy that has become an obsession for their Qatari owners.
For Arsenal, the inquest will begin. The injuries will be a part of it; the way that they have stretched Arteta’s squad thin. It was certainly not ideal to play a tie of this magnitude with Mikel Merino continuing to moonlight as a centre-forward.
The right recruitment in the summer is critical. There will be talk about the mentality; whether the team have been too predictable in tactical terms. And yet it would be churlish to overlook how far they have come in Europe, the memories they have made.
Arsenal knew they needed to produce one of the greatest performances in club history and they showed themselves at the outset, nerveless in the face of a ferocious atmosphere. Arteta’s team stepped high. They were confident on the ball.
Thomas Partey’s return from his European suspension enabled Declan Rice to play in a more advanced midfield role but what it also gave Arsenal was a long throw threat. Two of Partey’s arcing deliveries inside the opening 10 minutes led to chances. Gabriel Martinelli’s scruffy effort gave Gianluigi Donnarumma a problem; Martin Ødegaard’s stunning hit through a crowd from the edge of the area an even bigger one. Donnarumma had to have seen it late. His reflex save was jaw-dropping. Arsenal had Rice’s header, too, from a Jurriën Timber cross on four minutes that went wide.
-This PSG team is not easily subdued. As Arsenal pushed, the hosts began to eye the spaces in behind. Offering PSG any sort of room on the break is hugely risky. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia curled a shot against the far post in the 18th minute and if there had been errors from PSG early on, evidence of nerves, Arsenal started to make them.
William Saliba was loose with a pass that led to a half-chance for Desire Doué and Rice will rue the heavy touch that saw him lunge into a yellow card foul on Kvaratskhelia. From the free-kick, PSG went ahead.
Partey’s clearing header was weak, not enough distance on it and Ruiz took a touch on his chest, before moving from right to left on the edge of the area, away from Martinelli. His next action was to detonate a left-footed rocket that was still rising as it flashed past Raya into the top corner. It looked to take a slight deflection off Saliba.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was bold, as always, and yet there were mistakes from him, one of them a misplaced pass on 31 minutes. It was Kvaratskhelia to Bradley Barcola, PSG suddenly in on another break. Barcola was thwarted by a Rice block, which took the sting out of the shot, allowing Raya to save.
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Trust the process. We have heard that a few times from Arteta. His idea in the second half was to keep pushing, try to get in around the sides, maybe force a set-piece to work. There would be yet another moment from Donnarumma and his mighty wing-span, a finger-tip save to deny Saka after the winger had jinked inside and curled for the far corner.
The PSG penalty award was bizarre, the referee Felix Zwayer called to the pitch-side screen by the VAR some time after a Hakimi shot had been saved by Raya. Nobody saw the ball flick off Lewis-Skelly’s hand in real time; it was a brutally harsh decision. Vitinha’s run-up was slow and deliberate. Raya read his poke for the corner.
Back came PSG, Partey at fault again, dallying on the edge of the area and being robbed, seeing Hakimi slam into the far corner. Arsenal would rage against the dying of the light. They needed to have shown far greater ruthlessness.
