UCL Final Defeat Won’t Define Arsenal – Rice

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has thrown his support behind Gabriel Magalhaes and Eberechi Eze. This comes after the duo suffered penalty heartbreak in the club’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

Insisting that the pair remain vital to Arsenal‘s future success, Rice said that Gabriel and Eze will not be the first or last players to miss a penalty in a crucial final.

The England international added that he remains proud of himself and his teammates for delivering an unforgettable season.

His words, “Devastated. Missing a penalty in a Champions League final isn’t nice. But we love them. Look, that happens in football.

They aren’t going to be the last players to miss a penalty in finals. Everyone has missed a penalty. Without them two this season, we wouldn’t have won the Premier League. It’s cruel, but we take the positives.

It’s devastating to lose a Champions League final on penalties. We tried to take a lot of perspective in how far we’ve come as a group. An incredible season. Our 63rd game in all competitions. We’ve given it absolutely everything. We took the game to penalties. It’s a lottery.

That’s football, you can either win on pens or lose. Some of the best teams in the world have lost on pens. We’re on the receiving end of that tonight. We win together and we lose together. I’m so proud of these boys. What a season. It’s been incredible.

I can’t speak highly enough of everyone. I’m obviously gutted but I’m trying to look with a bit of perspective. We’ll be back.

The emotions and the stakes are so high. It’s cruel. [Arteta] spoke about how much he loves us as a the group. How we’ve given 100 per cent every single game with everything that’s been thrown at us.

This is only the start for us. We got over the line in the Premier League, this would’ve been one step further but it wasn’t to be. We keep building. Since I came to the club it was a quarter-final exit, then semi-final and now final. We keep going and keep staying positive. This isn’t going to define us.”

WOW.

Arsenal Football Club is an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London. Arsenal compete in the Premier League, the top flight of English football.

The club has won 13 league titles (including one unbeaten title), a record 14 FA Cups, two League Cups, 17 FA Community Shields, the Football League Centenary Trophy, one European Cup Winners’ Cup and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In terms of trophies won, it is the third-most successful club in English football.

After conducting an overhaul in the club’s operating model to coincide with Wenger’s departure, Spaniard Unai Emery was named as the club’s new head coach on 23 May 2018. He became the club’s first ever ‘head coach’ and second manager from outside the United Kingdom.

In Emery’s first season, Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League and as runner-up in the Europa League. On 29 November 2019, Emery was dismissed as manager and former player and assistant first team coach Freddie Ljungberg was appointed as interim head coach. On 20 December 2019, Arsenal appointed former club captain Mikel Arteta as the new head coach. Arsenal finished the league season in eighth, their lowest finish since 1994–95, but beat Chelsea 2–1 to earn a record-extending 14th FA Cup win. After the season. Arteta’s title was changed from head coach to manager.