rewrite this title Thierry Henry hails ‘great season’ for Arsenal despite Champions League heartache

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has defended his former club after they were beaten on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

The Gunners‘ all-time top goalscorer opted to focus on the positives after the north Londoners failed to lift what would have been a first-ever triumph in Europe’s elite club competition.

“People don’t like to embrace failure, and this is not failure, that is a great season for Arsenal Football Club,” the Frenchman told CBS Sports.

Mikel Arteta’s men were beaten 4-3 in the shootout but led the defending champions for an hour of the match after Kai Havertz had given the Gunners an early advantage in Budapest.

However, PSG’s pressure eventually told in the 64th minute when Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele dispatched the resulting penalty.

“You came short against an outstanding team, you pushed them all the way,” Henry added.

“But failure helps you win so make sure you feel it and don’t keep it too much but we’ll be back.”

‘Great respect’ for Gabriel

Henry knows what it feels like to be on the losing team in a Champions League final.

The former striker was Arsenal’s talisman when the club last reached this stage of the competition 20 years ago, where they were beaten 2-1 by a Barcelona side boasting the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Henrik Larsson.

And the 48-year-old offered words of support to defender Gabriel, who missed the decisive spot-kick to hand victory to Luis Enrique’s team.

Henry said: “When you go and take a penalty I will always have respect for you.

“How he played the whole season, and how he played tonight, was just immense.

“You missed the penalty but he went, though, he didn’t hide.”