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  "path": "/2026/06/01/gary-lineker-names-three-teams-better-players-arsenal-28599291/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-01T06:54:29.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Football",
    "Sport",
    "Arsenal",
    "Bayern Munich FC",
    "Champions League",
    "FC Barcelona",
    "Gary Lineker",
    "Mikel Arteta",
    "Paris Saint-Germain",
    "Premier League",
    "PSG",
    "Kai Havertz",
    "Eberechi Eze and Gabriel missing the target as Arsenal slipped to a painful defeat",
    "Sign up now",
    "Mikel Arteta’s defensive tactics not only in the final but across the season",
    "The Rest is Football podcast",
    "cut a desperately disappointed figure immediately after the Champions League final",
    "supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo",
    "held a trophy parade in north London",
    "check our sport page",
    "Facebook",
    "Twitter",
    "Instagram",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
  ],
  "textContent": "Ex-England striker Gary Lineker (Picture: Getty)\n\nGary Lineker has praised Arsenal for reaching the Champions League final but says PSG’s penalty shootout win was a ‘victory for football’.\n\nThe Gunners were aiming to win the Champions League for the first time in Budapest on Saturday night and complete a stunning double after clinching the Premier League title.\n\nMikel Arteta’s side took an early lead through Kai Havertz but Ousmane Dembele’s second-half penalty sent the champions league final to extra-time and then penalties.\n\nPSG coped better with the pressure in the shootout, with both Eberechi Eze and Gabriel missing the target as Arsenal slipped to a painful defeat.\n\n##  The countdown is on\n\nOur seven-day guide to the World Cup is live. 48 teams, 104 games, 1104 players – we've got everything you need to know. Sign up now.\n\nMuch has been made of Mikel Arteta’s defensive tactics not only in the final but across the season and Lineker believes that approach was the only way Arsenal could compete with back-to-back winners PSG.\n\nBut Lineker believes the outcome was a ‘positive result for football’ and says PSG were one of three teams who reached a higher level than Arsenal in Europe this season.\n\n‘It was obviously disappointing for Arsenal but I do think the best team in the tournament has won again,’ the ex-England striker said on The Rest is Football podcast.\n\nPSG beat Arsenal in the Champions League final (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘Looking at the game as a fan with no skin in the game, I think Arsenal had to play that way because they wouldn’t have beaten PSG any other way, but at the same time I think football won.\n\n‘I know there are all different sort of ways to play and there’s nothing wrong with playing defensively. But at the same time football is entertainment and you want to see teams that are really positive, creative and have the best players and play wonderful football.\n\n‘I think this season those three teams have been PSG, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.\n\nMikel Arteta’s Arsenal fell agonisingly short (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘Arsenal are brilliant defensively and PSG didn’t create much because they’re so organised but I think as a neutral it was a positive result for football.\n\n‘I think in terms of how football should be played, the best team won.’\n\nArteta cut a desperately disappointed figure immediately after the Champions League final and said ‘pain’ was the only way he could describe the feelings he felt.\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\n‘It is very tough to accept when you are so consistent in the competition all the way to the final and in the end you lose the trophy on penalty kicks, so it is a difficult one,’ he said.\n\n‘We haven’t done it for 22 years [reached the Champions League final], so imagine the second time in our history that we have done it, and we need to recognise the season we had.\n\n‘But at the moment nobody is going to take the pain away from you. You have to go through the emotions and if you’re in pain, then go through the pain.\n\n‘If you think you could do something else, then learn from it. Reflect on that and show the ambition that we want to have again.’\n\nOn back-to-back Champions League winners PSG, Arteta added: ‘They are a superb team and I congratulate them.\n\n‘Individual quality they have, the manner they are coached – they are a top, top team.’\n\nArteta and his squad were in a better mood on Sunday as they held a trophy parade in north London to celebrate their first Premier League title in 22 years.\n\n**For more stories like this, check our sport page**.\n\n**Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on**Facebook,** Twitter and Instagram**.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Gary Lineker names three teams who have ‘better players’ than Arsenal"
}