Europe Belongs to Paris Once Again

A hundred and fourteen minutes after Havertz's sixth-minute goal shook Budapest, it was Luis Enrique who lifted the trophy on the same Budapest night. Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties to win the Champions League back-to-back. The cup witnessed the first final to be decided by penalties in the last ten years; PSG became only the second club in modern Champions League history to successfully defend the title. In front of 61,000 spectators at the Puskás Aréna, the Paris side wrote a comeback that will be told for years.

The match's story began early. Havertz collected the ball after it deflected off Trossard and lashed it past Safonov into the net in the sixth minute; Arsenal led. The moment gave Mikel Arteta's side an extraordinary opening, but PSG never let go of the game despite going into the locker room 0-1 down. Luis Enrique's players controlled 75 percent of the ball and entered the opposition penalty area 43 times — the Gunners stopped at 14. In the 62nd minute of the second half, Kvaratskhelia was brought down in the area and referee Daniel Siebert pointed to the spot. In the 65th minute Dembele drove the penalty hard into the corner; Raya was helpless. 1-1.

What followed was a long marathon in which both sides took each other's breath away. Arteta brought on Timber, Gyökeres, Madueke and Eze. Luis Enrique replaced Kvaratskhelia with Barcola in the 83rd minute; then Ballon d'Or holder Dembele pulled a muscle and had to come off in the 90+6th minute for Goncalo Ramos. At the start of extra time, Vitinha's 25-yard strike missed the top corner by millimetres — Paris hearts stopped for a beat. In the second period of extra time tensions exploded: Rice and Arteta were booked back to back for dissent and Arteta was dismissed from the technical area. Vitinha was injured and had to leave the game. By the end of 120 minutes both teams' players were dragging their legs.

Before the penalties began, Luis Enrique gathered his players to the side; that short speech may have been the most decisive scene of the match. Ramos started by driving the ball hard into the goalkeeper's right corner; Gyökeres equalised for Arsenal. Doue found the left corner, while Eze burnt his chance with a shot that struck the post — Paris one step ahead. On the third kick Mendes was caught by the keeper, but Rice calmly equalised Arsenal's last hope. Hakimi hit it hard, Martinelli responded with a composed shot — 3-3. On the fifth kick Beraldo put PSG 4-3 ahead and it was Gabriel's turn. The Brazilian centre-back struck the ball, but Safonov's fingertips knocked it away. The pitch froze for a moment; then the Paris defence ran onto Safonov and fell into each other's arms.

With this result Luis Enrique rewrote in Paris the Champions League story he started in 2015 with Barcelona. The Spanish manager is now one of the rare names to have lifted Europe's trophy at two different clubs. Paris, who hammered Inter Milan 5-0 in last year's final, met a much more resistant opponent this time, but the result didn't change. Dembele's 33-goal and 12-assist output throughout the season, the critical 90 minutes he played despite the pain in his muscle, and the Ballon d'Or holder's decisive penalty goal stand at the very heart of Paris's historic double-crown story.

On the Arsenal side, the air was entirely different. Mikel Arteta's team had reached a Champions League final for the first time since 2006; the chance to lift the club's first European trophy slipped from their hands with the cruelty of the penalties. The two kicks missed by Eze and Gabriel sent home empty a team that had only just embraced the Premier League trophy after a 22-year wait. Arsenal, eliminated by PSG with a 2-1 aggregate in last year's semi-final, could not bring the cup home this time either, despite 120 minutes of defensive resistance. Gabriel's collapse onto the pitch after the final penalty was perhaps the tournament's most heart-rending frame.

The scoreboard alone does not tell it: PSG are now the undisputed kings of Europe in this era. Back-to-back Champions League, back-to-back Ligue 1, the UEFA Super Cup, and an already-secured ticket to the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. Paris will not sleep on the Champs-Élysées tonight.

 Image: Luis Enrique lifting the trophy in celebration — goal.com