At a Glance:
- Gary Lineker on whether Arsenal should’ve been given a penalty against Paris Saint-Germain.
- Nuno Mendes and Noni Madueke got into it inside the box.
- Mikel Arteta felt Arsenal deserved a spot-kick.
Noni Madueke burst past PSG left-back Nuno Mendes and fell inside the box when the defender tried to stop the winger in his tracks, leading Arsenal’s bench to demand a penalty in the Champions League final.
However, Mikel Arteta was denied his wish, who seemed convinced that the Gunners were set to be given a spot-kick.
After the contest, Arteta felt the North Londoners were unfortunate not to be granted a penalty, as he said via journalist Ben Jacobs: “I watched it back, and it can easily be a penalty, especially if you look at some of the penalties they have given in this competition.”
🗣️ Mikel Arteta on Noni Madueke's penalty shout. "I watched it back, and it can easily be a penalty, especially if look at some of the penalties they have given in this competition." pic.twitter.com/C1Orkdh6wk
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) May 30, 2026
Luis Enrique felt PSG were deserved winners and ultimately, the result came down to Gabriel Magalhaes skying his penalty in the shootout.
Gary Lineker had his say about the decision not to award Mikel Arteta’s side a spot-kick on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Gary Lineker feels Noni Madueke incident did not warrant a penalty during PSG vs Arsenal
Lineker felt that Madueke initiated the contact with Mendes and furthermore, the contact occurred outside the box, which meant Arsenal did not deserve to be handed a penalty against PSG.
“Actually, when you look at the Madueke thing again, if there was a foul, it’s probably outside the box and also, Madueke did seem to wrap his arm around him.
“So, I think the officiating got those decisions right, other people disagree, of course.”
Micah Richards agreed, adding: “There’s certainly not enough to overturn the Madueke one. I think if it would’ve been given on field and say, you hold you hands up and say, it’s a little bit soft but you understand why he’s given it. But you’re not going to overturn that.”
Arsenal should have done more to win the Champions League final
Ultimately, most fans and pundits alike will likely agree with Gary Lineker and Richards about PSG not being given a penalty against them for Mendes’ challenge on Madueke against Arsenal.
Arsenal struggled in possession against PSG, keeping 24.7% of the ball and playing against arguably the best team in the world, Mikel Arteta’s side simply did not do enough to win the game.
After Kai Havertz fired Arsenal into an early lead, the English giants never seemed to be able to retain the ball well enough to hurt the Parisians.
The French side were far from their best as well but their intent seemed to be geared towards winning the game for the most part, something the Premier League champions struggled to display.
