Pedras Rubras · Defender · #0 · Portugal · 35 yrs
Portugal and Nigeria will meet in an international friendly at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria on Wednesday evening, with the hosts playing their final preparation match before the 2026 World Cup begins. Portugal will want to finish their warm-up schedule with another positive result before facing DR Congo in their tournament opener, while Nigeria […] The post Prediction: Portugal vs Nigeria appeared first on SoccerNews.
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!In recent weeks, there has been endless discourse on why so many people hate Arsenal. Yet, yesterday’s parade in the cultural melting pot of north London proved that plenty of people out there really, really, really love them. Due in no small part to the fact that he couldn’t head his penalty and none of his teammates were blocking the PSG goalkeeper, Gabriel Magalhães’ miss from the spot meant the Gunners came up agonisingly short in their latest bid to win Bigger Cup. That didn’t stop the thick end of a million Arsenal fans of every age, stripe and shade from making the pilgrimage to Islington to worship their vanquished heroes. With the Premier League trophy already in the bag, the general mood ratio of unbridled joy to crushing disappointment was about 75-25, a statistic many will recognise as being almost identical to the previous evening’s possession stats in the Puskas Arena. Continue reading...
Thirst for renewal is strong and new players could help bridge the gap to PSG but there are no guaranteesThe greatest lie ever told about penalty shootouts is that they are a lottery. This is a recognisable and trainable footballing skill, a test not just of ball-striking and placement but research, psychology, mettle under pressure. Eberechi Eze puts the ball wide, Gabriel Magalhães sends it in the direction of the Danube: this is failure on the most brutal and unforgiving terms. But it is failure nonetheless.The second greatest lie ever told about penalties is that fortune plays no part. Any encounter decided by 10 kicks of a football will evidently be at the disproportionate mercy of random factors: the divot, the bad contact, the goalkeeper’s guesswork (and to all the preparation that goes into the process, it remains partly guesswork). That this sport – already a sport of low scores, narrow differentials and infinite variables – chooses to decide its biggest prizes on these smallest of morsels is one of its cruellest traits. Continue reading...
Premier League-winning midfielder defiant after PSG lossArteta ‘told us he loves us all, to keep our heads up’Declan Rice has promised that Arsenal “are coming back for more” next season after putting aside their disappointment at losing on penalties in the Champions League final by parading the Premier League trophy in north London.Paris Saint-Germain retained their European crown after a nail-biting shootout in Budapest, which ended with Gabriel Magalhães missing the decisive spot kick. Arsenal – who have played more games in the competition without winning it than any other club – reached the Champions League final for the first time since 2006 having made steady progress under Mikel Arteta in recent seasons. Continue reading...
Hundreds of thousands of fans line streets in LondonGabriel pays tribute to supporters after final agonyGabriel Magalhães admitted Arsenal’s Champions League penalty shootout defeat was “painful”, but the Gunners quickly put the disappointment to one side as fans descended on north London to attend an open-top bus parade.Gabriel missed the crucial spot-kick against Paris Saint-Germain as the French champions retained their crown following a 1-1 draw in Budapest. Yet Arsenal still had plenty to celebrate as they embarked on a parade through their local streets to celebrate the Premier League title success they secured earlier this month. Continue reading...
Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League over Arsenal in a dramatic penalty shootout. In a final that had all the tension possible, Paris Saint-Germain ended up winning the Champions League over Arsenal in a dramatic penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw following extra time. It was logical that there would not be the same kind of difference as last year, when Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter 5-0 in the final. This was much different, to the point that they had to come from behind after Havertz gave Arsenal the lead in the opening minutes with a great goal. In the second half, Paris Saint-Germain continued pushing until Kvaratskhelia was brought down by Mosquera in the box for a penalty that Dembélé converted to level the score. Not much happened after that and they finished tied. With key players being substituted on both teams because of how tired they were, not much was left in action, so they went to penalties. In the shootout, Eze missed for Arsenal and Nuno Mendes missed for PSG. The series continued with PSG leading 4-3, and Arsenal needed to score their final kick to stay alive, but Magalhães sent his effort high over the crossbar, and Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League.
Some struggle to love Mikel Arteta’s side but they went toe-to-toe with PSG in a gruelling, high-grade contest It always seemed likely, somehow, that Arsenal’s season was going to come down to Gabriel Magalhães and a set piece. Just not, ideally, like this.Football does love a note of dramatic irony. And while Arsenal may have lost this Champions League final on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain after three brain-mangling hours of unresolved jab, smother and counter-thrust in the humid green bowl of the Puskas Arena, this was also a brilliant, high-grade, dizzyingly tense game of football. Continue reading...
‘We will have to improve to try to get a different outcome’Manager unhappy Arsenal not given extra-time penalty Mikel Arteta spoke of his heartache after a skied penalty from Gabriel Magalhães in the shootout against Paris Saint-Germain ended Arsenal’s hopes of being crowned European champions for the first time, but emphasised the need to take that pain “and turn it into fuel”.Kai Havertz’s early strike and a defensive masterclass in the first half of the Champions League final that frustrated the holders had Arsenal supporters dreaming of a double after their first Premier League title for 22 years. But PSG hit back in the second half through Ousmane Dembélé from the spot before Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty of their own at the end of the first half of extra time. Continue reading...
football.london reviews the big decisions by the officials after Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, including Gabriel Magalhaes' battle with Erling Haaland and the potential two red cards that were missed
