Arsenal yesterday suffered heartbreak in the Champions League final in Budapest as they were beaten 4-3 on penalties by PSG after a tense 1-1 draw in 120 minutes.
It was set to be a historic evening for whoever won the coveted trophy – Arsenal looking for their first Champions League title 20 years on from their last final appearance, while PSG were aiming to defend the title they won last summer.
It was however Paris St-Germain that underlined their status as one of European football’s greatest ever teams by becoming only the second club to retain the Champions League.
Their nervy 4-3 win on penalties over Arsenal backed up their 5-0 win over Inter Milan in Munich 12 months ago.
In doing so they became the first side to successfully defend their title since Real Madrid’s three-peat from 2016 to 2018, and only the second to do it in the Champions League era – 1993 onwards.
Indeed, across the competition’s 71-year history PSG are just the 10th club to win successive titles.
All 10 of the outfield players who started PSG’s win over Arsenal, also started their victory over Inter Milan.
Only goalkeeper Matvey Safonov was new, in for Gianluigi Donnarumma who was signed by Manchester City last summer.
Over the past two years Luis Enrique’s team have dominated almost all competitions they have competed in.
Since the start of last season they have won eight of the 10 trophies available to them – only missing out on last summer’s Club World Cup and this campaign’s French Cup.
If they continue their dominance next season PSG could become just the fifth side to win three successive Champions League/European Cup titles.
But they still have a way to go to break Real Madrid’s record of five European Cups in a row between 1956 and 1960.
“Tonight PSG have made history,” said European football journalist Julien Laurens on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“This PSG team will be talked about as one of the greatest of all time.”
Laurens said PSG’s second Champions League crown “puts them in another dimension”.
The French champions also scored the most goals (45) and recorded the highest average possession (60.5%) in this season’s competition.
Laurens added to BBC Radio 5 Live: “Now they are in the conversation with those great teams. Pep [Guardiola] never did it with [Lionel] Messi and Barcelona, or with Manchester City either.
“If you win one it’s great, one and you are happy. But back-to-back is a different story.”
Paris St-Germain were playing in their third final. Their first was in 2019-20 when they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in Portugal.
But by winning a second Champions League title PSG also became the best-performing French club in the competition, going clear of rivals Marseille who have one title.
