^ ^ Vitinha speaks out on transfer interest after latest PSG Champions League win

PSG star Vitinha sounds set on staying where he is (Picture: Getty Images)

Vitinha says it is normal for PSG’s superstars to attract interest from fellow European giants, but is motivated to win more with the French club.

Paris Saint-Germain defended their Champions League title on Saturday night in dramatic fashion, beating Arsenal on penalties in Budapest.

The game finished 1-1 after an Ousmane Dembele penalty cancelled out Kai Havertz’s early opener for the Gunners.

In the shootout PSG’s Nuno Mendes saw his effort saved by David Raya, but Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes both missed the target with their shots, leading to a 4-3 win for the defending champions.

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Luis Enrique’s side is now the dominant force in European football and even the likes of Real Madrid may not be able to get their players if they want them.

Both Vitinha and Joao Neves have been linked with a move to the Spanish giants this year, but the former sounds unfazed and focussed on more success with PSG.

‘It’s normal that big clubs in the world want PSG players because we are at the top now for two years,’ he said on Saturday night. ‘It’s normal that things like that happen and the interest comes.

Joao Neves is a two-time Champions League winner at just 21 years old (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Normally, when you say we are the best it’s not good to say it, but right now, maybe it will not last a lot of time because football is like this, today it’s true, tomorrow it’s a lie. But today we can say we are the best in the world, the best in Europe. It’s normal that things like that come.

‘We take a lot of pleasure in being here to play in this incredible group. We are all very humble, you feel that and you give a little more in the field because of that. Now we just want to celebrate with people of Paris.’

The 26-year-old says the desire is there to push on and try to create more history by claiming a third straight Champions League title with PSG.

Luis Enrique has taken PSG to a new level as manager (Picture: Getty Images)

In the history of the European Cup and Champions League, only Real Madrid (1956-60 & 2016-18), Bayern Munich (1974-76) and Ajax (1971-73) have managed three titles on the bounce, but PSG will have the chance to join that elite group next season.

‘If you were to ask me now about the third star, it’s far away and there’s the same incredible journey ahead to it,’ he said.

‘It’s about savouring the moment now and congratulating everyone: the staff, chairman, sporting director, the coaches, everyone deserves this win, everyone got stuck in and worked incredibly.

‘The appetite just grows; you want to always win, never stop. I hope Luis Enrique will continue to push us so we can win more and more. But I don’t want to really think about the future right now, I want to savour the moment.’

Mikel Arteta almost pulled off a huge upset in Hungary (Picture: Getty Images)

Real Madrid-linked Neves was quick to take a swipe at Arsenal’s tactics after the narrow win, telling French outlet M6: ‘We deserve it today, because PSG were the only team willing to play.

‘It’s not even the victory in itself that pleases me, but playing with such teammates, this staff, and this management. I love everything here.

‘I’m very happy for the group, for everything we’ve done this season. It was even more difficult because we had to defend our title.

‘There was a lot of fatigue but when you play in the final, you have to forget everything and give it your all.’

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^ ^ Arsenal hero slams radio co-host for revelling in PSG Champions League win

Gabriel missed Arsenal’s final penalty of the shootout (Picture: Getty Images)

There are plenty of people revelling in Arsenal’s misery after Champions League final defeat, but Gunners hero Perry Groves is not happy about it.

Mikel Arteta so nearly became the first Arsenal manager to win the Champions League, but his team were beaten on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday night.

The match finished 1-1 after an early Kai Havertz strike was cancelled out by a second half Ousmane Dembele penalty.

Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes missed their spot-kicks in the shootout, with the Brazilian firing over the bar sparking delirious celebrations for PSG.

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It was heartbreak for Arsenal, but some of their rivals did not hide how happy they were about the result.

TalkSPORT hosts Gabby Agbonlahor and Jason Cundy were delighted, with former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor saying: ‘You know what won today? Football won.

‘Sitting back, parking the bus, defensive tactics. Football won. PSG by far the better team, especially second half.

Mikel Arteta almost pulled off a big upset in Budapest (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Arsenal stunk out the Premier League to win it and they tried to stink out the Champions League and they failed. You don’t deserve to win the Champions League playing like that.’

Former Chelsea player Cundy added: ‘They are the biggest failures in Europe, their records in Europe stinks.

‘Here’s the truth, you deserve to win the Premier League, you didn’t deserve to win the Champions League.’

PSG retain the Champions League title after thrashing Inter in last year’s final (Picture: Getty Images)

Groves, who won two First Division titles with Arsenal, joined the show and was offered commiserations, but was not ready to take them.

‘I don’t want your commiserations,’ said the 61-year-old. ‘Stick your commiserations where the sun don’t shine. I don’t want your hollow words. Stick it.

‘You’re pleased. It’s a weird thing, I don’t get people taking great pleasure from other people’s misfortunes.

‘I was brought up to want to be successful myself and reach my goals, but if someone else is successful then be pleased for them.’

Arsenal stars were left heartbroken by the painful defeat (Picture: Getty Images)

Groves did admit that he doesn’t stick to that philosophy entirely, saying he would have left the country if Tottenham had won the 2019 Champions League final.

‘The only caveat to that is that mob up the road, Spurs, because if they’d have won it in 2019 I’d have emigrated, I’d have gone to Sydney with my boy,’ he said.

‘But other than that…you’d rather a French team beats an English team! I don’t get it. It just shows how shallow you are.

‘I want an English team to do well. I don’t hate. That’s the difference. How energy sapping is that? It’s very shallow.’

Groves also defended the style of play Arsenal produced in the final, with PSG ending the game with 75.3 per cent possession.

‘It’s elite sport! If it turns basketball, PSG win. Everybody knows, because they’ve got better forwards,’ he said. ‘You have to try and find a way.’

Come and visit London’s Home of Trophies. 🏆

Book your Stadium Tour at Stamford Bridge now. ⭐️⭐️

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 30, 2026

Rival clubs were also quick to stick the knife into Arsenal, with Chelsea posting pictures of their own successes immediately after the Gunners’ defeat.

The Blues posted: ‘Come and visit London’s Home of Trophies. 🏆

‘Book your Stadium Tour at Stamford Bridge now. ⭐️⭐️’

However, they added shortly after: ‘We probably deserve another red card for that last post! But in all seriousness, congratulations to @Arsenal
on winning the Premier League and a great run in the Champions League.

‘Looking forward to picking up the battle again with you next season.’

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^ ^ Mikel Arteta explains surprise penalty shootout decision questioned by Arsenal legend

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta came so close to Champions League glory (Picture: Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Magalhaes asked to take the crucial fifth penalty in the Champions League final shootout, before blazing his effort over the crossbar.

The Gunners drew 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest, with an early Kai Havertz goal cancelled out by an Ousmane Dembele penalty in the second half.

PSG dominated possession and created more chances, but Arsenal defended impressively and took the game all the way to the shootout.

There was an early blow for the Premier League side as Eberechi Eze sent his spot-kick wide of the post, but David Raya then kept out Nuno Mendes’ penalty.

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With the defending champions taking the first penalty, it came down to Gabriel’s fifth to take the shootout into sudden death.

However, the Brazilian defender blazed his shot over the bar and PSG’s wild celebrations could begin.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was surprised to see the centre-back stepping forward to take the critical spot-kick.

Agony and ecstasy after Gabriel’s missed penalty (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I always say when you go and take the penalty I will always have respect for you,’ Henry told CBS Sports.

‘I don’t know why he went, I don’t know how he arrived to be the fifth guy but he went. How he played all season and tonight was immense. But he missed it. But he didn’t hide.’

Arteta says Gabriel put his hand up at the crucial moment, with a number of more regular penalty-takers having already been substituted.

‘He wanted to take number five,’ Arteta told a post-match press conference. ‘Obviously we have prepared and training this moment.

Gabriel volunteered to take the fifth penalty (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Normally the penalty-takers will be Bukayo [Saka], will be Martin [Odegaard], will be Kai [Havertz] for sure and we knew that if we go to extra time and penalties the penalty-takers will be different players, but still with quality.

‘When you have Ebs [Eze] take penalties in training he doesn’t miss any. But then you have to do it in this moment and unfortunately not to have the same prevision and efficiency that they had.’

Gunners midfielder Declan Rice told TNT Sports: ‘To miss a penalty in a Champions League final, obviously it’s not nice. But we love them and we’re with them. It happens in football. They’re not going to be the last players to miss penalties in finals.

Gabriel misses his penalty ❌

PSG WIN THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!! 🏆

📺 TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/6XSuU3xqsN

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 30, 2026

‘Everyone has missed a penalty and without those two this season we wouldn’t have won the Premier League, that’s for sure.

‘Gabriel, I’ve run out of words for him as a person and as a player. Eze has scored some crucial goals for us this season.

‘It happens. It’s football and it’s cruel. We take the positives and keep going.’

Nuno Mendes narrowly avoided giving away a penalty on Noni Madueke (Picture: Getty Images)

There was penalty controversy earlier in the contest, when Noni Madueke went down in the box after a clumsy challenge from Mendes in extra time.

The referee gave nothing and VAR did not step in, with there certainly contact between the players, but it not being entirely clear who instigated it and if it was enough to put the Arsenal winger on the deck.

Arteta reckons his team were unlucky, though, having studied the decisions that have been given earlier in the tournament.

‘I watch all the penalties in the competition the last 72 hours to understand what is a penalty and what is not and that easily can be a penalty,’ he said.

‘If, if, if is not what happened and that’s it. We need to do better, have to improve and find different margins to find the outcome we want.’

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^ ^ Bukayo Saka responds to claim PSG have major Champions League final advantage

Bukayo Saka will star for Arsenal in the Champions League final (Picture: Getty)

Bukayo has denied Paris Saint-Germain’s well-rested stars will have a major advantage over Arsenal in Saturday’s Champions League final.

Luis Enrique’s side haven’t kicked a ball in anger since wrapping up another Ligue 1 title and concluding their domestic campaign with a 2-1 defeat against Paris FC on May 17.

A fortnight off has given the likes of Achraf Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele enough time to ensure they are fit enough to start having both been injury doubts until earlier this week.

Moreover, the number of competitive minutes played by the key members of PSG’s first team squad is far lower than their Arsenal counterparts who were involved in four competitions up until the start of April.

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Saka, however, is confident the extra rest the holders have enjoyed will not prove to be a decisive factor in Budapest this evening.

He said: ‘We’ve had a week to recover and prepare for this game.

‘A game like this is not going to be decided on minutes, it’s going to be decided on moments.’

While the numbers show PSG are the fresher bunch, with less tired legs in the squad, Arsenal’s relentless schedule has provided consistent match sharpness, which in itself could provide a vital advantage they might have over their opponents.

‘Does game and load management provide PSG with more recovery time and will they be fresher during the season? Absolutely,’ said Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics.

‘And the research would back that up. The single most reproducible finding in elite football injury research is that fixture congestion drives muscle injuries. If you have played significantly fewer matches in your domestic league, your accumulative load is lower so your injury risk is lower. PSG can statistically go into the game with a lower injury risk.

‘But I would be careful drawing a straight line from that to PSG being fresher on the day. Match sharpness is a completely different variable, and you can become physically under stimulated if you are not getting competitive minutes regularly. So it is not a question of who is more rested, it is who has the right balance between recovery and stimulus.’

Saka, meanwhile, whose upcoming battle with Hakimi could prove decisive in the destination of the trophy, is confident his team have what it takes to dethrone PSG and secure Arsenal’s maiden Champions League crown.

‘We know the history of the club and we know that tomorrow we can write history as players winning it for the first time,’ said Saka.

‘So that already is a lot of motivation for us.

‘We all know where my journey started. Seven, eight years old at Hale End. This was a long way away, trying to win the Premier League, trying to win the Champions League with Arsenal.

‘It feels like this last week, it’s all kind of become a reality. I’m very excited about the opportunity to win another trophy here and to create that history for the club that I love.’

Buakyo Saka and Mikel Arteta were in high spirits in training ahead of the Champions League final(Credits: Shutterstock)

Those sentiments were echoed by skipper Martin Odegaard who has his eyes on more silverware, just a week on from lifting the Premier League trophy.

He said: ‘I’ve been dreaming about winning these trophies, since I grew up playing football as a kid with my friends, in the little pitch next to my house in Norway.

‘It’s something special that we can achieve that has not been done before.

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‘It was 22 years since we last won the Premier League, and now finally, we did it. So we want to make even more history.

‘When you get the taste of winning and lifting a trophy, you know how nice it feels. So obviously we want to do it again.

‘It would mean a lot to everyone, to our supporters, and we’re ready to do it. I’m looking forward to the game.’

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^ ^ Why the Arsenal vs PSG Champions League final has been switched to 5pm

The Champions League final kicks off at an earlier time of 5pm on Saturday(UEFA via Getty)

The Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain will kick-off at the earlier time of 5pm on Saturday.

Traditionally, Champions League finals are played at 8pm but this season, UEFA have brought the match forward by three hours.

UEFA decided to move to an earlier kick-off time in order to ‘enhance the matchday experience and benefit fans, teams and host cities’.

The change in kick-off time is to also make it easier for supporters travelling to and from the match at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

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A statement from UEFA said: ‘The decision is designed to enhance the overall matchday experience for fans, teams and host cities by optimising logistics and operations, while delivering several tangible benefits.

How to watch the Champions League final in the UK

(UEFA via Getty)

The Champions League final will be broadcast live via TNT Sports, with coverage starting on TNT Sports 1 at 3pm on Saturday.

‘Our goal is to make matchday a truly enjoyable experience for everyone who wants to be part of the excitement, while creating a welcoming atmosphere that makes it easy for families and children to attend the biggest and most important club football match of the season.

‘For travelling supporters, it will mean improved access to public transport – especially after the match – and a safer, more convenient journey back from the stadium. For the host cities, it will boost the positive economic impact of the event by giving fans the possibility to continue their celebrations.

‘The new kick-off time also aligns with a more accessible broadcasting window, helping the final reach an even broader television and digital audience worldwide, with a particular focus on engaging younger viewers.’

UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, said of the change to the kick-off time: ‘With this change, we are placing the fans’ experience at the heart of our planning.

‘The UEFA Champions League final is the highlight of the football season, and the new kick-off time will make it even more accessible, inclusive, and impactful for everyone involved.

‘While a 21:00CET kick-off is well suited for midweek matches, an earlier kick-off on a Saturday for the final means an earlier finish – regardless of extra time or penalties – and offers fans the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the evening with friends and family, reflecting on the game of the season.’

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