Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta admitted Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain are the best team in the world after his Gunners fell to defeat in the final on penalties.
Following a 1-1 draw after extra-time, PSG clinched the Champions League for a second consecutive season with a 4-3 shootout victory in Budapest.
Arteta said all he was feeling was “pain,” and admitted his Arsenal side, who won the English Premier League this season, were not at the same level as the French champions who dominated the ball throughout.
“I want to congratulate PSG, [coach] Luis Enrique, in particular, because in my opinion they are the best in the world,” Arteta said.
“What they are able to do with the ball, with individual actions, I haven’t seen it before, and it’s not a plan to play in certain scenarios when you don’t have the ball but they force you to do that. So even more praise to the players.”
Arsenal had less than 25 percent possession in the final, defending resiliently against waves of PSG pressure.
The French Ligue 1 winners equaled the record of 45 goals scored in a Champions League campaign with Ousmane Dembele’s second-half penalty canceling out Kai Havertz’s early opener for Arsenal.
Arteta was unhappy with the decision not to award Arsenal winger Noni Madueke a penalty with the score tied at 1-1 but accepted his team had to improve further still if they are to win the Champions League. This was their second appearance in the competition’s final, 20 years after the first in which they lost against Barcelona in Paris.
“The same progression that we had in the last few years, we’re going to have to do that over again, and the level is increasing every single season,” the Spaniard said.
“You have to go through that pain [from the final], digest it and turn it into fuel to improve and to reach a different level, because it demands a different level with the quality that is around Europe.”
Luis Enrique described his team’s second Champions League triumph as “even bigger” than their maiden European title a year ago.
“It is even bigger because we knew of the difficulties of playing against Arsenal, and for us as a team and a city it is incredible to win it,” the Spaniard said.
In the shootout, Nuno Mendes was the only Paris player out of five to fail to score during the shootout, while Eberechi Eze had already missed for Arsenal before Gabriel blasted over with their last attempt.
“I think we have deserved it over the course of the season even if the final was really close-fought,” added Luis Enrique.
PSG became the first team since Real Madrid between 2016 and 2018 to retain the Champions League trophy.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
