Twenty years after its one and only appearance in a Champions League final, Arsenal were given a second chance to win the competition for the first time in their history. But on Saturday against PSG, the Gunners folded at the end of the penalty shootout. During the meeting, Mikel Arteta was very restless on the edge of the pitch. Far too much according to some.
As usual, the Arsenal coach talked a lot, walked a lot, challenged a lot. On a ball hit with the knee in his area by Willian Pacho against Viktor Gyökeres, Arteta gesticulated even more by miming a hand, then claiming the penalty. An imaginary penalty that the referee logically did not whistle, without further calling on VAR. This sequence was commented on after the match.
On the set of the L’Équipe channel, Dave Appadoo expressed his exasperation about the overall behavior of the Arsenal players. “They were on autopilot. They had a horrible attitude. We can say it, they had a detestable attitude. Regardless of the fact that it was Arsenal, that there was Paris opposite. »
Mike Arteta annoyed during PSG-Arsenal
And to continue with the Arteta case. “I find that having this kind of attitude in 2026, where you know that, anyway, everything is filmed… Go and claim, as if you were outraged by the error while the ball hits the knee, almost the shin, and you ask for a hand as if you were sure of yourself? But stop! Stop! You are punished Arteta tonight, that’s it! It tired me. »
The old-fashioned and ultra-defensive football put in place by Mikel Arteta was not enough for Arsenal against Paris. Certainly, the tide came very close to turning in favor of the Gunners, but it was Luis Enrique who won a second C1 with his Parisian players.
