Thierry Henry questions why Gabriel took Arsenal’s decisive penalty

Thierry Henry did not spend his post-final reaction on the miss alone. He focused on the decision to send Gabriel up as Arsenal’s fifth penalty taker after the 1-1 draw with Paris Saint Germain in Budapest, a shootout Arsenal lost 4-3. Gabriel then fired over the crossbar, and Henry said he did not know how he ended up as the fifth man.

Why Henry singled out the selection

Henry’s point was about selection, not a cheap shot at Gabriel’s ability. He said, “I always say when you go and take the penalty I will always have respect for you. I don't know why he went, I don't know how he arrived to be the fifth guy but he went. How he played all season and tonight was immense. But he missed it. But he didn't hide.” That is a fair summary of the tension here, because Henry clearly backed Gabriel’s night overall while still questioning the choice of taker.

The numbers back up that split view. Gabriel’s final rating was 7.0, with 120 minutes played, 35 passes, 1 tackle and 2/2 duels won. Arsenal’s final ratings were strong across the team too, with Declan Rice on 7.7, Kai Havertz on 7.3 and David Raya on 7.0. In other words, this was not a case of one player collapsing across the full 120 minutes and then being handed the last kick anyway.

Why the debate will not stay on Gabriel alone

There is another side to this, and it matters. Peter Schmeichel was blunt in saying Gabriel was “the best player on the pitch” and “a top player,” adding that he was “a man mountain at the back” who kept Arsenal alive for a very, very long time. That is a very different frame from treating the miss as proof that Gabriel should never have been in the mix.

The broader shootout also matters. Eberechi Eze missed his penalty completely, pulling the ball wide low of the left-hand post, and David Raya saved from Nuno Mendes after that. Arsenal still lost 4-3, so the defeat cannot be reduced to one kick, even if Gabriel’s was the most obvious one when the dust settled.

Thierry Henry’s criticism is strongest when it stays on the process. If Gabriel was playing well enough to be praised as immense, then the obvious question is why he was the fifth taker in a final shootout. That question is sharper than any verdict on his character, and it is the one Arsenal will have to answer when this loss stops hurting quite so much.