{"id":675594,"date":"2026-05-31T07:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T07:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/675594\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T07:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T07:21:13","slug":"gabriel-penalty-why-champions-league-final-penalty-miss-was-cruel-blow-for-arsenal-standout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/675594\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabriel penalty: Why Champions League final penalty miss was ‘cruel blow’ for Arsenal standout"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sight of Gabriel wiping away tears as PSG’s players celebrated with the trophy will be one that lingers long in the memory of Arsenal<\/a> supporters.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian, one of Mikel Arteta’s first signings after taking charge in December 2019, has been a driving force behind the club’s rise back to the summit of English football and their Premier League title triumph this season.<\/p>\n

He started 48 of Arsenal<\/a>‘s 63 matches across all competitions and contributed nine goals and assists – more than both Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus.<\/p>\n

While rival fans may focus on his miss in Budapest, Arsenal<\/a> supporters will remember the countless occasions he delivered for his side, including a dramatic 96th-minute winner against Newcastle United<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n

“I’ve just listened to Declan Rice talking about how he has run out of words to describe Gabriel because he has been so important and so good for Arsenal<\/a> all season, and over the past few years as well,” former Manchester City<\/a> defender Nedum Onuoha told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n

“So for him to be the one who misses the penalty that costs them the Champions League final is heartbreaking.<\/p>\n

“But I think everyone will rally around him because Arsenal<\/a> would not have won the Premier League without him. He has been invaluable and, quite rightly, is in the conversation for PFA Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

“The pressure is always there in a shootout. You can practice penalties in training, but in a Champions League final you can never truly prepare for that moment. Unfortunately, he has experienced what every player dreads – missing the penalty that decides a final.”<\/p>\n

Former England defender Upson added: “It’s one of those moments that will be remembered for years, a cruel blow for a player who has been a tower of strength for Arsenal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Gabriel gave everything for his team. He showed the mentality and courage to step forward and take responsibility, which is all you can ask of any player.<\/p>\n

“It is desperately sad for him, but he strikes me as someone who will recover quickly and use it as motivation. He still has a huge summer ahead with Brazil.”<\/p>\n

For one night, Gabriel was the face of Arsenal<\/a>\u2018s heartbreak. It should not detract from the fact he was also one of the main reasons they got there in the first place. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sight of Gabriel wiping away tears as PSG’s players celebrated with the trophy will be one that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-675594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}