Arsenal’s heartbroken stars leave team hotel in Budapest hours after brutal Champions League final defeat on penalties against PSG
Arsenal’s heartbroken stars were spotted stepping out of their hotel in Budapest on Sunday morning, hours after their latest Champions League defeat to PSG.
Arsenal suffered the pain of losing on penalties as Eberechi Eze and Gabriel could not find the goal.
Gabriel’s effort over the bar was the one that sealed PSG’s second successive victory in the tournament and the Brazilian looked down as he made his way to the team bus on Sunday morning.
Eze’s spirits were further boosted when the Englishman flashed a peace sign to the cameras outside the team hotel.
Defeated manager Mikel Arteta, dressed in all black, was seen wheeling his bag onto the bus to take them to the airport in Hungary.
Martin Odegaard, David Raya, Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard were among those looking glum.
Gabriel (left) looks down as he leaves the team hotel after the Champions League defeat
Eberechi Eze flashes a peace sign to the cameras as he heads towards the team bus
Spirits will no doubt be boosted when Arsenal step back and start celebrating in the afternoon parade to mark their Premier League victory.
The parade will start at 14:00 and both men’s and women’s teams will participate.
The bus route runs five miles around Islington in North London to celebrate the men’s Premier League win and the women’s FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
But it was not to be a historic double, with Luis Enrique’s brilliant champions finding a way to triumph against Arsenal’s formidable defence.
It had been a perfect start for the English team as Kai Havertz smashed home just six minutes into the final at the Puskas Arena.
The Gunners limited their opponents to almost no scoring chances but the game turned around again in the second half.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fouled Cristian Camira in the penalty area and Ousmane Dembele scored the penalty and the score became 1-1.
PSG had 75 percent of the possession and Bradley Barcola spurned two chances to put his side ahead in extra time.
In Saturday night’s spectacle, Mikel Arteta and Co lost out on penalties to PSG.
David Raya made a save in the shootout but it wasn’t Arsenal’s doing
The spot-kick lottery decided the outcome of an exciting competition. Nuno Mendes’ penalty was saved by David Raya but misses from Eze and Gabriel proved decisive.
The fifth penalty was awarded to centre-back Gabriel, who has been at the heart of Arsenal’s excellence all season.
Evaluating this decision after the match, Arteta said: ‘He wanted to take this. Normally Bukayo would be the one to take the penalty [Saka]Martin [Odegaard] and kai [Havertz].
‘But we knew that if the game went to extra time and penalties, different players would have to step up.’
Arsenal have not yet won the Champions League title in their history and the wait continues.
