PSG Retains Champions League After 4-3 Shootout Win Over Arsenal in Budapest

Paris Saint-Germain retained the UEFA Champions League on Saturday, beating Arsenal 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in the final in Budapest to become only the second club in the competition’s modern era to win back-to-back titles.

The French club, which arrived at the Puskás Aréna as defending European champion, survived Arsenal’s early lead and then held its nerve from the spot after 120 minutes produced no winner. The shootout turned on Arsenal’s fifth penalty, when defender Gabriel Magalhães missed the decisive kick and PSG clinched the trophy again.

Arsenal struck first in the sixth minute through Kai Havertz, giving the London club an early advantage in its bid for a first European Cup or Champions League crown. PSG equalized in the second half when Ousmane Dembélé converted a penalty after Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera fouled Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box. VAR, the video review system used in the final, was in operation for the decision.

Dembélé’s spot kick, scored around the midpoint of the second half, brought PSG level at 1-1 and set up a tense finish. Neither side found a breakthrough in regulation or extra time, sending the final to penalties.

PSG then did enough in the shootout to preserve its crown and add another chapter to a result of wider historical weight. While several teams retained the old European Cup before the competition was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992-93, successful title defenses have been exceptionally rare in the modern era. UEFA had noted before the match that only Real Madrid had previously managed it in the Champions League era. PSG has now joined that company.

That context gave the result significance beyond a single final. PSG had won the 2024-25 final to claim its first title and entered this year’s decider with a chance to do something almost no modern champion has done: come back and win it again the following season. Against Arsenal, it did exactly that, albeit the hard way.

For Arsenal, the defeat ended a chance to make club history of its own. The English side was playing in its first Champions League final since 2006 and was seeking the first European Cup or Champions League title in its history. It arrived in Budapest as the 2025-26 Premier League champion, having won its first English top-flight title in 22 years, and appeared on course for a landmark double after Havertz’s early goal.

Instead, Arsenal was left short after PSG’s second-half response and the narrowest of margins in the shootout.

As Champions League winner, PSG lifts the trophy again and secures a place in the UEFA Super Cup against the Europa League winner, along with an automatic place in next season’s Champions League league phase if it has not already qualified.