Arsenal Weekly | Vol. 18

A week that few in red north London will forget. Arsenal, after twenty long years, appeared in the Champions League final, in which they were unfortunately defeated by the holders from Paris after a penalty shootout. The Gunners will have to wait until at least next season for another chance. However, the sadness from the cruel defeat was quickly replaced by the joy of league title celebrations. According to some sources, up to one and a half million fans of the north London club gathered in the streets of London. I can confirm myself that the atmosphere, not only around the Emirates Stadium, was breathtaking. The whole of London was painted red on Sunday. After all, the league title, which had been awaited for twenty-two years during which the club and especially the fans had suffered, was being celebrated. It's no wonder that the title celebrations became the largest ever held on English soil. It probably goes without saying that London is RED.

Results

📅 Date and time	🏟️ Match and the result	⚽️ Shooters	🏆 Competition
30. 5. 2026, 18:00 (CET)	PSG 1:2 (pens) Arsenal	Havertz	Champions League (Final)

News and attractions

Champions League

• Twenty years of waiting for Arsenal's historically second Champions League final unfortunately ended in defeat, and not just any defeat. Arsenal fought for the most prestigious club trophy right up to the very end. They only lost to the defending champions after a penalty shootout, with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel missing for Arsenal, while only Nuno Mendes missed for PSG.
• Following the defeat in the final, Arsenal fans showed tremendous support for the Brazilian centre-back who missed the decisive penalty. Jerseys bearing his name became the best-selling items, with sales rising by an incredible 350%.
• Kai Havertz was Arsenal's sole scorer at the Puskás Aréna, marking his second Champions League final goal of his career (the first was in his time at Chelsea).
• Myles Lewis-Skelly, who started in the Champions League final from the opening minute, became the fifth youngest player (19 years and 246 days) to ever feature in the starting line-up of the millionaires' competition.
• Arsenal continues to remain without a Champions League trophy, hopefully, that will change in the near future.

Other

• Mikel Arteta He has won the Premier League Manager of the Season award. Congratulations!
• David Raya was nominated for the Save of the Season award (for his save against Minteh's shot in the home fixture against Brighton), but the trophy was ultimately won by Everton's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
• Martín Zubimendi, in turn, was nominated for the Goal of the Season award (volley in the home match against Nottingham), which was ultimately won by Harrison Reed of Fulham for his long-range strike against Liverpool.
• A record number of fans attended the championship celebrations, with some sources citing as many as one and a half million participants.
• In a few days, the Football World Cup kicks off, and Arsenal players will, of course, be participating. Which of Mikel Arteta's charges will be appearing at the World Cup?
  • 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke
  • 🇪🇸 Spain: David Raya, Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Merino
  • 🇫🇷 France: William Saliba
    • In recent days, reports have emerged that the French defender has been playing the last few weeks with a back injury and it is not impossible that he will miss the World Cup due to this injury. No official statement has yet come from the club or the French national team, so we can only hope that William Saliba's injury is not serious.
  • 🇩🇪 Germany: Kai Havertz
  • 🇧🇪 Belgium: Leandro Trossard
  • 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Jurriën Timber
  • 🇳🇴 Norway: Martin Ødegaard
  • 🇸🇪 Sweden: Viktor Gyökeres
  • 🇧🇷 Brazil: Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli
  • 🇪🇨 Ecuador: Piero Hincapié

Next week's programme

In a word, none. The 2025/2026 season has officially ended, so a well-deserved rest is on the cards. Well, for some, as a whole host of players are heading to the World Cup in the United States and Mexico. From a club football perspective, however, a break awaits us all, a break into which Arsenal enters as English champions. I can certainly live with that.

And that's all from the eighteenth episode of Arsenal Weekly. We'll now take a short break from our regular weekly posts. However, you can certainly look forward to new blogs and articles during the summer break, in which I'll focus on various topics. I definitely plan to have a blog focused on summing up the season, updating player profiles, and of course, posts focusing on the summer transfer window.

See you next time, I'll look forward to it!

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