The most fitting way for Arsenal’s season to end, it appeared, necessitated a set-piece and Gabriel Magalhaes. Just not this particular set-piece or, for them, this particular end. The personification of their uncompromising excellence from corners was instead – strangely – on penalty duty, blazing a spot kick into the end populated by Paris Saint-Germain ultras.
The red flares were lit, but the red half of north London were in mourning. Second again, 20 years after their first Champions League final. In the plush seats, flanked by Luis Figo, Arsene Wenger had looked pensive more than an hour earlier. The scoreline could have given him grounds to smile, but he had seen this situation before. Arsenal one up in the Champions League final? That did not end happily in 2006. It wouldn’t in 2026 either.
