Z-PRO MEDIA

  By Maxwell Kumoye Paris Saint-Germain players presented their UEFA Champions League trophies to the French Open crowd on Monday, two days after securing Europe's premier club competition for the second consecutive season. PSG defeated Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Puskás Arena to successfully defend the title they first won last year. "We're bringing you the second star. We're proud and happy," said Désiré Doué on Court Philippe-Chatrier. "We want to thank everyone at the club. It's a collective victory." Doué had earlier brought out the trophy PSG won last season following their emphatic 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in the final, before Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola carried the newly won trophy onto the court. "We've experienced outstanding moments with this squad, and we want to win a third title," Dembélé said. "But first, we have the World Cup with France." Dembélé, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Barcola an...

  Paris St Germain forward Ousmane Dembele promised fans gathered at the foot of the Eiffel Tower ‌on Sunday that the club would chase a third consecutive Champions League title next season, as supporters celebrated the city's back-to-back European triumphs. "Thanks to all of you for your support. We'll be back next year ⁠with the third one," Dembele addressed the crowd as they danced to Daft Punk’s "One More Time", while the players showed off the trophy secured against Arsenal on Saturday. The mood was relaxed after light showers gave way to sunshine, in contrast to scenes overnight when post-game violence across the capital left over 200 people injured ‌and ⁠killed one. Qatari club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi urged fans to keep up the positive atmosphere. "Celebrate calmly tonight. Protect our city, that's very important," he said. PSG players took to the Champs ⁠de Mars, a giant open field beneath the Eiffel Tower, before an official visit...

Arsenal's hierarchy need to make quick, smart and bold decisions if they are to keep progressing, manager Mikel Arteta said on Saturday, after his side lost on penalties to Paris St Germain in the Champions League final. The defeat is the second time Arsenal ‌have lost in the final of Europe's premier competition, although this time they will console themselves knowing they have just won their first English domestic title in 22 years. The London club took the lead in Budapest when Kai Havertz lashed in after just six minutes, but they were eventually pegged back by an Ousmane Dembele penalty and then suffered penalty shootout heartbreak after extra time. A crestfallen Arteta said ⁠his club now needed to make some "very important decisions" if they wanted to become a dominant force both domestically and in Europe. "First of all, I would take a few days with my family and then we will start the process to review what we've done," Arteta told reporters. ...

  Paris St Germain’s back-to-back Champions League triumphs have been built on talent, depth and tactical sophistication, but those inside the club point first to something less tangible when explaining their rise to the summit of Europe - belief. Luis Enrique arrived ‌in Paris in 2023 promising a cultural shift rather than instant glamour, with the Spaniard wanting a team in which collective sacrifice outweighed individual status, where the biggest names defended, pressed and suffered together. Two Champions League titles later, his players speak about him less as a coach than as an architect and people leader. “It’s not easy to do it back-to-back, but we did,” defender Achraf Hakimi said after PSG beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties in Saturday’s final following a 1-1 draw after extra time. “The coach is the big voice of the club. We follow him, we trust him. Since day one he told us the team is more important than the player. ⁠We have created not just a team but a family.” That idea h...

  Arsenal's pursuit of Champions League glory in Saturday's final is likely to depend heavily on how well the core of their team deals with a rampaging Paris St Germain side. With the pressure of trying to deliver the Premier League title now released, Arsenal are seeking a glittering double and proof they are firmly ‌part of Europe's elite. They face a formidable challenge in Budapest against Luis Enrique's outstanding PSG team, with their rare blend of eye-catching flair, intelligence and hard graft. But Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has built a spine to his side that might just be the perfect foil. At its base, goalkeeper David Raya has kept nine clean sheets in Arsenal's 14-game unbeaten run to the final. Arteta acknowledges he ruffled some feathers when he brought the Spaniard in three years ago but views it as one of ⁠the decisions that helped Arsenal clinch their first domestic title in 22 years and reach their first Champions League final in 20. In central de...

         Liverpool manager Arne Slot must find a way to arrest the team's slide even as the pressure mounts on him, former skipper Steven Gerrard said after the Merseyside club were thrashed 4-1 by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday. The humbling defeat was Liverpool's ninth in their last 12 games in all competitions, their worst 12-game stretch since the 1953-54 season and the third successive game in which they have lost by three goals. Slot helped Liverpool win the Premier League in his first season in charge and while they now languish in 12th, and 13th in the Champions League, Gerrard dismissed talk of a crisis. "Crisis is a strong word, and disrespectful to some of the players that have delivered for this club, and for the manager that's delivered three months ago," Gerrard, who made 710 appearances for Liverpool, told TNT Sports. "But you cannot deny the team is struggling massively, they're on a terrible run, confidence...