Former France striker Christophe Dugarry has heavily criticized Mikel Arteta's Arsenal following their Champions League final defeat. The World Cup winner labeled the London club a "bunch of clowns" for their overly defensive tactics and accused them of arriving in Budapest with excessive arrogance. This is reported by Goal.com reports .
Arsenal faced PSG in the 2026 Champions League final, losing on penalties after the match ended 1-1 in regular time. Despite Kai Havertz opening the scoring in the 6th minute, the English champions sat back defensively throughout the game, surrendering the initiative to their opponents.
"We only saw an Arsenal team trying to kick the ball away and waste time. It was unbearable," Dugarry said on RMC Sport. In his view, winning the Champions League with such boring football is a betrayal of the love for the game. Dugarry emphasized that the Londoners acted against their own history and attacking style.
The former player also recalled Mikel Arteta's pre-match statements: "They arrived with great arrogance; Arteta said 'we will beat them'. I am glad Arsenal lost. If they ever want to win, they need to start playing football. This is not Arsenal! This club has its own legacy and style. They cannot play like this."
Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley also criticized the Londoners' tactics via ESPN. According to him, it is incomprehensible for a team that scored in the 6th minute to spend the rest of the 90 minutes just trying to defend. Arsenal must now learn from this defeat and prepare for the new season.
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