David Raya said Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain left him “broken inside” after the penalty shootout ended 1-1. The goalkeeper said the loss cut deeper because Arsenal had reached the final for the first time in 20 years and then missed their chance to add the trophy to a season that already brought the Premier League title.
Raya and Fabian Ruiz
Raya also described how quickly he crossed paths with Fabian Ruiz again after the final, when both later linked up for Spain’s World Cup campaign. “I arrived a bit before Fabian. I was saying hello to some of the others in the reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did,” he said.
He added that the conversation came in two parts. “I couldn’t really talk after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting. I was happy that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
Arsenal and the 226-game wait
Arsenal’s loss extended a long run in Europe: the club has played 226 European Cup or Champions League games without lifting the trophy. That is the backdrop to Raya’s reaction, and it explains why the defeat landed so heavily after Mikel Arteta’s team had finally reached the final again.
Raya said the night after the final was especially difficult. “When I went home, I was broken. We stayed overnight [in Budapest] and travelled the next morning. That night is very, very hard. The following morning too,” he said.
Premier League parade at Emirates
The contrast came quickly. Arsenal held a parade to celebrate their Premier League title win the day after the defeat, and Raya said the Emirates crowd changed the mood. “Then you reach the Emirates, you see the fans and that lifts you. When you come out on the bus with the Premier League trophy and see all the people, what it means to them, you realise what you’ve done.”
He said the scale of the season still mattered, even with the Champions League ending in pain. “Personally, those were very, very hard moments, but you take a step back and look at it with perspective. You think about the way the club was a few years ago and the way it is now, and that gets a smile out of you.”
Arsenal’s 2026-27 Premier League fixtures were announced on Friday, and the first match puts Coventry City in front of them at home on matchday one. Raya’s own view of the run-in is blunt: “That’s when you think next year we can do better and win the Champions League.”
