Arsenal Premier League champions and Champions League finalists in the same season. Does the penalty defeat erase a remarkable year or is that unfair?

[Louise84]

Arsenal won the Premier League title in 2025-26. They reached the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years. They lost that final on penalties last night in Budapest.

The question that Arsenal fans and the broader football community are discussing today: does the penalty shootout defeat in the final define the season negatively, or is a Premier League title plus a Champions League final an objectively remarkable achievement that a shootout cannot diminish?

Same question applies to the Villa Europa League win last week. Two London clubs reaching European finals in the same season is extraordinary

[Shane96]

A Premier League title is the definition of a successful season. Everything else is bonus. The Champions League run being ended on penalties in the final does not change the title

[NealBinnom-Williams]

Arsenal fans have been waiting 20 years for a title. Getting the title and reaching the Champions League final in the same season is not a failure. The penalties are devastating but the season is objectively historic

[Amy96]

The problem is that Arsenal will be judged harshly by the fact they were winning 1-0 and did not hold it. The manner of how it ended matters as much as the result in how seasons are remembered

[Amy]

Villa winning the Europa League the same week Arsenal lost the Champions League final is the most London football fortnight in decades. Different clubs, different trophies, different outcomes

[Sequence19]

Arteta has Arsenal at a level they have not been at since 2004. One trophy and a final in the same season is year one of what could be a sustained era, not a one-off

[Coastal Otter]

The comparison to Liverpool 2019 who won the Champions League and finished second in the league is interesting. Arsenal did the inverse. Both are remarkable. Which do you prefer?