PSG Makes History, Repeats as UCL Champions with Win vs. Arsenal on Penalties

Paris Saint-Germain won their second consecutive UEFA Champions League title on Saturday, beating Arsenal 1-1 (4-3) on penalties in the 2026 UCL final at Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.

Lucas Beraldo was the hero for PSG, scoring in the fifth round of the penalty shootout to put them up 4-3, before Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhães missed the net on his attempt to seal the victory for the French side.

Arsenal opened the scoring and seized the early momentum when Kai Havertz beat PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov with a high, hard and perfectly placed shot underneath the crossbar in the sixth minute:

Havertz entered rarefied air with that goal, becoming only the third player in history to score in the UEFA Champions League final for two different teams after previously doing so with Chelsea, per OptaJoe:

After Arsenal frustrated them for much of the match, PSG finally equalized in the 65th minute when Ousmane Dembélé buried a penalty kick:

Dembélé's goal was the result of a foul by Arsenal's Cristhian Mosquera, who took down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in an attempt to shut down a dangerous scoring chance.

Paris Saint-Germain went on to win in the first UCL final to go to penalties since 2016 and became the first club to win the Champions League title in back-to-back years since Real Madrid won three straight from 2016 through 2018.

The Parisians are also the first French team to win multiple doubles as Ligue 1 and UCL champions in the same year, doing so after becoming the first French club to win the continental treble last year.

In addition to their back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles, PSG have also won five consecutive Ligue 1 titles, firmly establishing themselves as the dominant force in European soccer.

PSG head coach Luis Enrique joined elite company on Saturday as well, becoming only the fifth person to win at least three UCL or European Cup titles as a head coach.

Carlo Ancelotti is still the all-time leader with five UCL titles, but Enrique is tied for second on the list with Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane and Bob Paisley.

Arsenal were in search of their first-ever UCL or European Cup title, and they made only their second appearance in the UCL final on Saturday.

The Gunners previously lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the 2006 final, and it took them two decades before they finally got another shot to hoist the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

Arsenal entered the Champions League final with a ton of momentum on their side after winning the English Premier League title for the first time since 2004.

Their wait for a breakthrough UCL title will have to wait, though, as PSG denied them what would have been a historic moment in club history.