At the Puskás Arena, in Budapest, occupied by more than 60 thousand fans – divided between those of Paris Saint-Germain and those of Arsenal, finalists of the 2025/2026 Champions League –, Gabriel Magalhães takes a distance, not much, and takes his penalty kick.
It was the English club’s fifth in the penalty shootout, after a 1-1 in normal time and a 0-0 in extra time. If the defender, a member of the Brazilian team, did so, there would be a sequence, in alternating hits.
The left-footed Magalhães, looking concentrated, ran, hit and… sent the ball over goalkeeper Safonov’s goal, straight into the stands where the PSG fans were. It reminded me of a field goal kick from American football. He was wrong by a lot.
Result: PSG will take its second European title in a row to Paris, and Arsenal will be another year without the coveted Orelhuda, the Champions trophy, never won by the London team.
The easiest thing to do is to blame Magalhães. The responsibility, however, may not be his, or not his alone.
One of the best defenders in the world today, a pillar of the Gunners in winning the English Championship after a 22-year absence, Magalhães faced an unprecedented challenge.
Only once (in a friendly tournament against Milan, in 2022) since his arrival to the team, in 2020, had he been designated to go to the limelight, either during games or in disputes to define classification or title. There were several, I counted nine (not including the one from this Saturday), and in eight of them he just watched his teammates hit.
Conclusion: Magalhães is not the most qualified on the team for this type of task.
This time, it was up to him. Was he trained? I don’t know how much Arsenal practiced penalties in the pre-final week. But it is very likely that the entire team prepared, as the chance of a draw in the final in Hungary was considerable.
Some Arsenal passers (Saka, Havertz, Odegaard, Trossard) had been replaced, which left the team with fewer reliable alternatives. But was Magalhães the best, or the least worst, that Spanish coach Mikel Arteta had to assign to the fifth penalty? Theoretically, no.
I argue that defenders should always be the last to take penalties, after even goalkeepers. Beques are not finishers. They are trained to destroy and to know how to pass the ball at the beginning of a play. In attack, the preparation is basically for set pieces, looking for the header, as they tend to have good height.
Penalty? Which defender takes a penalty? Spaniard Sergio Ramos, 40, frequently hit Real Madrid. Other than that, you see an exception here and there. Why? Because beques are, by definition, not good finishers with their feet.
A defender is not selected for a penalty, except as a last resort. (What happened to Marquinhos, champion again with PSG now, without taking a penalty, when he kicked one, equally decisive, for the Brazilian team against Croatia in the 2022 World Cup? Yes.)
The most attentive reader will say: Beraldo took a penalty for PSG in the decision and converted. It’s been a while since Beraldo stopped being a defender on the team, he’s a midfielder. It’s explained.
Magalhães didn’t need to be fifth in line at Arsenal. Arteta had a way to do it differently. Striker Madueke, midfielder Zubimendi and full-backs Timber and Hincapié were available, plus goalkeeper Raya. Of these, only the Ecuadorian Hincapié could be discarded with a clear reason, as he finished the game limping.
One hypothesis: Magalhães could have reached his superior and said “put me in, I’m confident, I trained well”? He can. Could this have influenced Arteta’s decision? He can.
If that happened, the number 6 trained well and performed very poorly. Maybe: he had no history of taking a penalty in the game, he lacked experience of it. And becomes a top 5 pick in the most important match of the season?
It is for the coach, the owner of the final word, to reflect and learn. Penalty is not luck, it is not a lottery. This time, Arteta’s choice for Magalhães was.
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