Mikel Arteta said Noni Madueke’s late challenge “easily can be a penalty” after Arsenal lost the Champions League final to PSG in a shootout.
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal were denied by fine margins after losing the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties, but made clear he felt Noni Madueke could easily have been awarded a late spot-kick.
Arsenal were beaten at the Puskas Arena after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes, with PSG holding their nerve in the shootout to retain the trophy.
For Arteta, the immediate feeling was simple. Pain. His side had come within a few kicks of winning the biggest club competition in football, only for the decisive moments to fall the other way.
“Pain – that’s it,” he said when asked what he was feeling. “When you are so close in the competition and today you are a few penalty kicks away from winning the biggest club football competition, that’s the way we should feel.”
Arteta did not try to hide behind the penalty decisions, but he did point to them as part of the margins that shaped the final.
Mosquera was penalised in Arsenal’s box, while the late challenge on Madueke was not given. Asked whether Arsenal should have had a penalty, Arteta was direct.
“I watched all the penalties in the competition in the last 72 hours to understand what is a penalty and what is not, and that easily can be a penalty,” he said.
Asked if the result would have been different had the penalty been awarded, he refused to dwell on hypotheticals.
“If, if, if – it’s not what happened and that’s it. We need to do better, we will have to improve and find different margins to get the outcome that we want.
“First of all, you have to go through that pain, digest it and turn it into fuel and improve to reach a different level. It will demand a different level with the quality around Europe. I want to congratulate PSG, Luis [Enrique] in particular, because in my opinion they’re the best team in the world.
“What they are able to do with the ball, with individual actions, I haven’t seen it. It’s not the plan to play in certain areas when you don’t have the ball but they force you to do that, so even more credit to the players.”
Arteta also praised his own players and staff, making clear that his gratitude was not only about the trophies and finals, but the daily work that carried Arsenal through the season.
“What I said to the players and the staff is that if I tell them one million times ‘thank you’, it’s not going to be enough,” Arteta said. “It’s not because we won the Premier League and it’s not because we played the League Cup final, it’s not because we played the Champions League final in the manner that we’ve done.
“It’s because of the joy and the moments that we have lived together every single day and that’s above anything else.”
On Gabriel taking the fifth penalty, Arteta said, “He wanted to take number five honestly. We have prepared and trained for this moment. Normally the penalty takers would be Bukayo, Martin, Kai for sure.
“We knew that if we got extra time on penalties, the penalty takers would be different players, still with the quality when you see Ebz take penalties in training, he doesn’t miss any, but then you have to do in this moment. It’s unfortunate not to have the same precision and efficiency that they had and that’s the reason that we haven’t won.”
The squad will still return to a parade in north London, where supporters will celebrate the league title after a 22-year wait. Arteta admitted the Champions League defeat will hurt on that occasion too, but said the day should still be meaningful.
“To the people, I already know how the team feels about them,” Arteta said.
“We are very grateful for the support they have given us throughout the season, in times of difficulty, as they have been with us, and it has been a real joy to win a league after 22 years. It hurts, it hurts a lot for them not to win, because I can’t even imagine what would have happened.
“We all had a huge desire to win it and tomorrow [Sunday] will be a beautiful day for sure.”
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