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'Gutted' Arsenal fans lament Champions League loss / Photo: © AFP
'Gutted' Arsenal fans lament Champions League loss
Arsenal fans who packed out pubs across north London hoping to witness their team win the Champions League for the first time were left dejected following Saturday's painful defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
But they insisted they were still looking forward to celebrating the club's first Premier League title in 22 years when the club will parade that trophy through the streets of the capital on Sunday.
"I am gutted. So sad. It was so close," 75-year-old osteopath Berwyn Rutherford told AFP, shortly after the English giants lost 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the final in Budapest.
PSG won their second consecutive Champions League title after Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes both missed for the Gunners in the shoot-out.
Kai Havertz had fired Arsenal into an early lead before Ousmane Dembele equalised from the spot for the French side in the second half.
"Arsenal played better. I hate penalties. It is so unfair," added Rutherford.
Thousands of Arsenal supporters turned the streets around the club's ground in the Highbury area of north London into a sea of red and white on Saturday afternoon.
Decked out in replica shirts and Arsenal scarves, thousands packed into bars while those who couldn't get in peered through pub windows at screens and others watched at home.
Sam Friedman, a 34-year-old lawyer, flew in from New York City on Saturday morning to watch the game close to his beloved team's Emirates Stadium.
"I am sad," he told AFP, before adding: "It's not the end of the world. Next season we are going to win."
He wasn't the only diehard Arsenal fan trying to put a positive spin on what has been a memorable season for the Gunners.
"Premier League champions, and within touching distance of European glory. A season we can be immensely proud of," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in a post on X.
Sunday's Premier League victory parade is due to start at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) and last about two hours.
Seventeen-year-old Felix Koelsch described the outcome of Saturday's game -- Arsenal's second appearance in the Champions League final following their first in 2006 -- as "disappointing".
"But they played so well. It's just a matter of time, they will win. We won the league and its more than enough!" he told AFP.
D. Barbosa--JDB
