Arsenal’s masterplan almost worked in UEFA Champions League final – until set-pieces let them down on the biggest stage

By their lofty standards, PSG were ordinary in Budapest.

The Vitinha passing metronome was in full swing, but it was not incisive enough to come close to prising Arsenal open. With Khvicha Kvaratskhelia under lock and key for the opening hour, it looked as though '1-0 to the Arsenal' was back for another triumphant outing.

Ousmane Dembele, starved of service, drifted out to the flanks in search of influence. Only Desire Doue looked consistently capable of causing problems, until Kvaratskhelia finally found some freedom and made the decisive contribution in normal time before slipping back into the shadows.

Arsenal finished with just 24.7% possession. Their xG from the 45th minute until penalties was just 0.1.

And yet Mikel Arteta's gameplan took Europe's most-feared attacking force all the way to a shoot-out. This was a PSG side who had blown away all before them and put five past Bayern Munich in that wild UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.

Marshalled by the outstanding Gabriel, Arsenal looked capable of defending until Sunday's parade without conceding. PSG probed, then probed again, and then probed some more, but only a handful of chances emerged.

Luis Enrique cut an increasingly incensed figure on the touchline, frustrated by the time Arsenal took over every set-piece and the extra yards they tried to steal at throw-ins. But it was working.

The defending champions looked rattled and, on another night, Arsenal's approach would have been enough to bring them down, had Cristhian Mosquera been a little more savvy in the penalty area or referee Daniel Siebert taken action when Noni Madueke tumbled in the PSG box.

"Set-piece again, ole, ole" was the soundtrack to Arsenal's lightning start to the season.

Although the goals from corners and free-kicks dried up somewhat in the second half of the campaign, these always felt like the moments where Arsenal could hurt PSG.

It never materialised.

Their frustration began in first-half stoppage time when Bukayo Saka was prevented from taking a corner because referee Siebert decided he had taken too much time. It proved to be Arsenal's only corner of the first 90 minutes.

When the next finally arrived in extra time, Madueke - lively after coming off the bench - curled it straight out of play. The two that followed were little more fruitful.

Still, a team as meticulously drilled as Arsenal would have fancied their chances once the shoot-out arrived, even with regular takers Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz already withdrawn.

Yet for a side built on mastering the tiny details, the details suddenly deserted them.

The two penalties that missed the target, from Eberechi Eze and Gabriel, both featured stuttering run-ups.

"I've never been a fan of the stuttered step," TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves said.

"It just puts you under more pressure, especially if the goalkeeper stands still. I prefer to see players just pick their corner. You can put a bit of doubt in your own mind, and the one thing you must do is hit the target."

After spending 120 minutes proving how effective their system is, Arsenal were ultimately undone not by PSG's brilliance but by their own failure to execute the basics.

While Arsenal were left wondering what might have been, Luis Enrique continued his climb towards football immortality.

His brief was daunting: turn a collection of stars into a team.

By the end of his first year in Paris, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe had all moved on. Remarkably, PSG became stronger for it - especially in attack.

Dembele has rediscovered the potential first glimpsed at Borussia Dortmund. Desire Doue has emerged as one of Europe's brightest young talents. Kvaratskhelia has flourished. Behind them sits a perfectly balanced midfield built around Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz rather than celebrity status.

The result is a side who feel healthier, hungrier and more complete than any PSG team assembled during the galactico era.

"For sure [he's one of the managerial greats], given the company he is keeping in terms of managerial wins in the Champions League," said Steven Gerrard on TNT Sports' coverage.

The company is indeed exclusive.

With back-to-back European titles, Enrique has become the first coach since Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid side between 2016 and 2018 to successfully defend the Champions League. Before Zidane, you have to go back to Arrigo Sacchi's great AC Milan side of 1989 and 1990.

"He's the manager and he's the leader of an incredible group of players," continued Gerrard.

"He's got rid of the ones who could have affected that spirit that would have prevented them becoming an elite team. His leadership, his tactical ability, if he stays and keeps recruiting, anything is possible."

And if his post-match press conference was any indication, he is not interested in stopping at two titles. The Spaniard talked up going "back-to-back-to-back". Few would bet against him.

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