Marquinhos Told Gabriel He Was the Best Centre-Back in the World After Champions League Final Penalty Miss

Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos sought out a devastated Gabriel Magalhães immediately after PSG’s Champions League final victory over Arsenal in Budapest, offering words of encouragement rooted in his own experience of missing a high-stakes penalty on the world stage.

Arsenal’s campaign for the 2026 Champions League title came to an end in a penalty shootout defeat to PSG. Gabriel, who had been one of Mikel Arteta’s most consistent performers throughout the season, saw his spot-kick fail at the critical moment, handing PSG the victory.

Rather than joining his celebrating teammates straight away, Marquinhos changed direction upon spotting the distressed Arsenal centre-back standing alone amid the post-match chaos. The PSG skipper drew a direct parallel between that moment and his own painful experience of missing a penalty for Brazil at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, an incident that informed his decision to prioritise consoling his Brazilian international teammate over joining the festivities.

Speaking from the Brazil national team camp, Marquinhos described exactly what went through his mind. “I was ready and prepared to celebrate,” he told reporters. “But when I started running, I saw him right in front of me and my team going past him, the same image as after my penalty [miss] in 2022.”

“That’s when I started thinking about my [Brazil] teammate, having empathy, because I’ve been through a moment like that and I know the responsibility,” the PSG captain continued.

The words Marquinhos delivered to Gabriel were unambiguous in their intent. “I told [Gabriel] to stay strong, to hold his head high because he’d had an incredible season and an incredible match,” he said. “I told him that, in my opinion, he was the best centre-back in the world this season. He simply didn’t deserve to carry that burden because, of course, we all want to score penalties.”

Marquinhos also framed his message with a forward-looking perspective, reminding Gabriel of his ongoing importance to the Brazilian national setup. “I told him that nothing about that moment would take away from the wonderful season he’d had and that we were going to need him very much,” he added. “Those were my words to him, so that he could get over that moment as quickly as possible because we were going to need him very soon here.”

The exchange highlights the close-knit nature of the Brazilian football community at the elite level. Both Marquinhos and Gabriel are regular fixtures in the Brazil national team squad, and the PSG captain’s reference to needing Gabriel “very soon” points to upcoming international commitments, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon.

For Gabriel, the penalty miss represents a difficult end to what had otherwise been an exceptional club season under Arteta at Arsenal. Despite the shootout heartbreak, his performances across the Champions League campaign had drawn widespread recognition. Marquinhos’ public acknowledgement of that quality adds further weight to the Arsenal defender’s standing among his peers at the highest level of the game.