Sunday’s briefing: Arsenal suffer Champions League loss and Slot exits Liverpool

Arsenal’s hopes of adding Champions League glory to their Premier League crown ended in penalty shootout defeat to Paris St Germain.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have sacked manager Arne Slot and Scotland’s Billy Gilmour is out of the World Cup.

Arsenal fell short in their bid to win the Champions League for the first time as they were beaten on penalties by holders PSG in Budapest.

Eberechi Eze and Gabriel both missed from the spot as PSG recorded a 4-3 shoot-out victory to retain their title after the game ended 1-1 as Kai Havertz’s sixth-minute opener was cancelled out by Ousmane Dembele’s second-half penalty.

Eze dragged his spot-kick wide before David Raya saved from Nuno Mendes.

With the shoot-out in the balance at 3-3, Lucas Beraldo sent Raya the wrong way before Gabriel blazed over.

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s Champions League defeat to PSG was “very tough to accept” and claimed his side could “easily” have been awarded an extra-time penalty.

The Gunners felt they could have had a spot-kick when Noni Madueke was bundled over by Mendes but nothing was given.

Manager Arteta and midfielder Declan Rice were both booked for protesting in the aftermath.

Asked to explain his emotions, Arteta said: “Pain. It is very tough to accept when you are so consistent all the way to the final and in the end you lose the trophy on penalties.”

Reflecting on the Madueke incident, he said: “I watched all the penalties in the competition in the last 72 hours to understand what a penalty is and what is not, and that easily can be a penalty.”

Liverpool have sacked head coach Slot after a disappointing Premier League title defence.

Fans turned on the Dutchman after a number of poor performances – the team lost 19 times during the 2025-26