Arsenal’s wait for a first Champions League trophy will continue for at least another year.
The Gunners came agonisingly close to ending that drought on Saturday night, but a penalty shootout defeat to PSG denied them the biggest prize in European football.
It was a heartbreaking end to what had otherwise been a magnificent campaign for Mikel Arteta’s side, who also ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title.
However, the loss in Budapest has also seen Arsenal extend an unwanted European record that no other club can match.
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Arsenal extend unwanted Champions League record after PSG defeat
For all of Arsenal’s success domestically, Europe has always been the one competition that has caused them pain.
The club has produced some outstanding teams over the years and has regularly competed against the continent’s elite.
From Arsene Wenger’s great sides to Arteta’s current group, Arsenal have spent decades trying to conquer Europe, and they have come close on a number of occasions too.
The Gunners reached the Champions League final in 2006 and did so again this season, while there have also been several memorable runs to the latter stages of the competition.
Yet the trophy continues to evade them. That is what makes Saturday’s defeat so painful.
Not only did Arsenal miss out on becoming champions of Europe, they also extended a record no club wants to own.
According to Opta, Arsenal have now played 226 matches in the European Cup and Champions League without ever lifting the trophy.
That is the most games any club has played in the competition’s history without becoming champions.
It is an extraordinary statistic and one that highlights just how cruel European football has been to Arsenal over the years.
Now that you’ve all had time to reflect, why did Arsenal lose the Champions League final?
This record should not define Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal
Statistics like this can make for painful reading, but they do not tell the whole story.
Twenty years ago, Arsenal’s defeat to Barcelona in Paris felt like the end of a cycle, but this loss to PSG feels completely different.
Arteta has built one of the youngest elite squads in Europe, and many of Arsenal’s most important players have not even reached their peak years yet.
That is why Arsenal supporters should view this record as motivation rather than a curse.
The Gunners may have extended it this year, but they look far better placed to finally end it than they have at any point in the last two decades.
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