The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

PSG beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties to retain their Champions League crown and become just the second team to defend their crown in the modern Champions League era.

The first side was, of course, Real Madrid, who were managed by French legend Zinedine Zidane at the time. It was in the middle of the last decade that Los Blancos won three in a row.

Real are now, of course, 15-time winners of Europe’s top prize. For Paris Saint-Germain, this means they are two-time defending European champions. OH, how it seems like a distant memory that PSG would often be so close, yet so far, year after year in this tournament.

Since appointing treble-winning Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, The Parisians have established themselves as the best team in Europe and arguably on the planet.

Yes, Chelsea might have won that tournament over the summer, but it’s clear that Enrique’s men are the best on the continent and in the world. No team thus far has had an answer to defeating them.

Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich gave it one hell of a go, but over the two legs PSG’s class came through. The same could be said of the final too. At the Puskas Arena, Paris Saint-Germain didn’t have things their own way.

In fact, Arsenal’s big-game player Kai Havertz does what he does best (scores big goals in big games). On Saturday evening, he again did just that, to put The Gunners 1-0 up in the final.

Advantage: Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. As valiantly as they fought, PSG were always going to have chances. The French side started to get into the game and levelled up when talisman Ousmane Dembele scored from the spot.

That equaliser saw PSG press more and more, as they sensed blood, but Arsenal held firm. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hit the post for the holders, who had 75% possession.

Despite their utter dominance, Paris Saint-Germain had to be content with the contest going to penalty kicks. For Arsenal, Eberechi Eze and then Gabriel missed the decisive penalty, sending it over the bar and sending PSG fans wild.

French champions and the new European champions, PSG remain the team to beat.