Arsenal will have little time to dwell on their agonising Champions League final defeat as they prepare for today’s trophy parade.
The Gunners were hoping that Sunday’s huge event in north London would be a double celebration, allowing them to show off both the Premier League and Champions League trophies.
Gabriel and Eberechi Eze both missed their spot-kicks in the shootout, with David Raya’s save from Nuno Mendes proving to be in vain.
Arsenal had gone ahead after just six minutes of normal time at the Puskas Arena through Kai Havertz’s strike, before Ousmane Dembele equalised 20 minutes after the break with a penalty after Cristhian Mosquera had fouled Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
It was a hugely disappointing and frustrating way for an otherwise superb season to end as the Gunners missed out on a first-ever Champions League triumph that would have sealed a famous double.
Drought over: Arsenal have waited 22 years to get their hands on the Premier League trophy again
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Why is Arsenal trophy parade taking place on Sunday?
Arsenal’s trophy parade will still go ahead as planned on Sunday despite their gut-wrenching defeat in the Champions League final as they celebrate their Premier League success.
However, those fans who were present in Budapest face a real race against the clock to be back for a 2pm BST start time. Those without early return flights look set to miss out.
At least 500,000 and perhaps even up to a million supporters are expected to line the 9km route around Islington for what promises to be an unforgettable occasion involving four separate open-top buses.
But why not wait a day or two to hold the parade to make sure that all fans who were at the Champions League final can make it?
Well there are many reasons, not least the nigh-on impossible logistics involved in trying to organise such a mammoth event in the capital on a weekday.
Another key reason relates to the upcoming summer World Cup, with the bulk of Arsenal’s players selected for the tournament due to be released to their respective national teams on Monday (June 1), which is also the deadline for any remaining squads to be confirmed to FIFA.
A number of Arsenal’s first-team squad are internationals going to North America for the finals, so trying to conduct a parade without them would be pointless.
Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eze and Madueke will all be on England duty, Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli are both in the Brazil squad, while Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber have been called up by Germany and the Netherlands respectively.
David Raya, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino are in the Spain squad, with William Saliba off with France and Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres important players for Norway and Sweden. Leandro Trossard plays for Belgium.
