Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, 30 May 2026 22:31 / Updated Saturday, 30 May 2026 22:39
The former great footballer Gică Craioveanu, 58 years old, believes that “football punished” her Arsenal, who lost the Champions League final on penalties, 3-4, after 1-1 in the 120 minutes of play with PSG.
Arsenal opened the scoring early in Budapest, in the 6th minute through Kai Havertz, but that remained the Gunners' ONLY shot on target in 120 minutes of play.
Mikel Arteta's side were content to defend that fragile advantage, something they managed until the 65th minute when Ousmane Dembele converted Kvaratskhelia's penalty.
On the offensive level, the champion of England proposed very little, the statistics being telling: 64%-36% possession, 21-8 shot ratio, 106-26 attack ratio, 11-3 corners, 837-199 successful passes. All in favor of Paris!
Craioveanu and Mutu did not manage Arsenal: “Football punishes you”
In this context, former footballer Gică Craioveanu told DigiSport that “football punishes you, and tonight it punished the Arsenal guys”.
“Modest, modest game. Football grows in value when there are chances. Tell me 3 big chances in the whole match. (…)
Arteta is the new Simeone of modern football. Bad game! In the 90th minute, when he changed the strategy and wanted to play, they played football. They had some good moments of play. Get Zubimendi in, he's been your best player all season, he knows the ball,” he added.
Adrian Mutu also commented on a similar note: “From the statistics it is clear who controlled the game. Very little for a Champions League finalist, but that was probably Arteta's strategy, to stay in the box and not give them spaces, not to risk counterattacks.”
