Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal “could easily” have been awarded a penalty in extra time of their dramatic Champions League final loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
With the score at 1-1 in the 103rd minute of action, Noni Madueke and Nuno Mendes tangled in the PSG box, with the Gunners winger vociferously appealing for a spot-kick as he went down. However, referee Daniel Siebert was unmoved and VAR confirmed the decision, without deeming the incident worthy of a pitchside monitor review from Siebert.
Earlier in the match, at the other end of the pitch, Cristhian Mosquera was penalised for bringing down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box, although this decision was relatively uncontroversial, and Ousmane Dembele duly dispatched the spot-kick to level the score at 1-1.
The final went all the way to a penalty shootout, where Gabriel blazed over the bar from 12 yards to hand the French side a 4-3 victory as they retained the trophy they won 12 months ago and broke Arsenal hearts in the cruellest possible fashion.
“I’ve watched it back and it could easily be a penalty especially when you see the penalties that they have given in the competition this season,” Arteta told TNT Sports of the Madueke decision in extra time.”
“The referee has made that decision, he made a different one on the penalty with Mosquera and that’s an important one.”
Arsenal were playing their first Champions League final for 20 years and enjoyed a dream start when Kai Havertz smashed home after just six minutes.
They pushed PSG hard throughout but Demebele’s penalty and the eventual shootout heartbreak means Arteta’s men end the campaign with just one trophy – a first Premier League crown for 22 years.
“It’s really tough to accept,” added Arteta. “When you are so consistent in the competition, all the way to the final and at the end, you lose the trophy on penalty kicks. So it’s a difficult one.
“But I’m so proud. And I think, the season that we have had under the circumstances, just internally we know what we’ve been through. The players have given us so much joy. It is just a privilege to manage this group of players, this team. I think the way they carry this badge and how much they put into it… We got a big one [the Premier League trophy] and we missed out on the biggest one.”
Although the manner of defeat in this final will hurt, Arteta is convinced that his side will be able to learn from the experience and use the season as whole as fuel moving forward.
“We need to recognise the season that we had,” he explained. “But at the moment, nobody’s going to take the pain away from you.
“They [PSG] are a superb team, so we congratulate them. They are very difficult to play against, that’s why they are the champions two times in a row. The quality they have, the manner of their coach, they are a top, top team.
“I think you have to go through the emotions and enduring pain goes with it. If you think you could have done something else, learn from it. Reflect on that and show the ambition that we want to again.”
