"PSG's Marquinhos Shares Touching Message from Arsenal's Gabriel After Champions League Final Penalty Heartbreak"

GABRIEL MAGALHAES sent a heartfelt thank you message to Brazil team-mate Marquinhos after their embrace in the Champions League final.

defender missed the crucial penalty in the Gunners’ 4-3 shootout defeat to in the final in Budapest.

Marquinhos has revealed the thank you message Gabriel sent to him after the Champions League final Credit: Alamy Gabriel missed the decisive penalty in the shootout as Arsenal lost 4-3 on penalties to PSG Credit: Getty

The 28-year-old was immediately consoled by PSG captain on the pitch, who ran to him instead of celebrating with team-mates.

And the 32-year-old has now revealed he was sent a heartwarming message by Gabriel thanking him for his kind words in the moment.

Speaking in a news conference ahead of the World Cup, Marquinhos said: “A day later, I received a message from him thanking me for that moment, for the support, for the hug, and for the words I’d shared with him.

“I told him it had been my greatest victory that night, and that the reaction it generated was great.

“My mum came over, proud of what I’d done, along with my wife, family and brothers. It was the best accolade I received that night.

“Players have to move on to the next challenge very quickly. I can’t keep celebrating forever; we’ve got other things to do, and so does he.”

Marquinhos suffered a similar experience to his international team-mate when he missed the decisive penalty that saw knocked out of the World Cup against in 2022.

Thanks to that experience, he knew exactly what to say to heartbroken Gabriel, who has been named in ‘s squad alongside the PSG defender.

Marquinhos missed a penalty that knocked Brazil out of the World Cup in 2022 Credit: Getty

He added: “I was ready and prepared to celebrate,” Marquinhos said. “But when I started running, I saw him right in front of me and my team going past him, the same image as after my penalty [miss] in 2022.

“That’s when I started thinking about my [Brazil] teammate, having empathy, because I’ve been through a moment like that and I know the responsibility.

“I told [Gabriel] to stay strong, to hold his head high because he’d had an incredible season and an incredible match.

“I told him that, in my opinion, he was the best centre-back in the world this season. He simply didn’t deserve to carry that burden because, of course, we all want to score penalties.

“I told him that nothing about that moment would take away from the wonderful season he’d had and that we were going to need him very much.

“Those were my words to him, so that he could get over that moment as quickly as possible because we were going to need him very soon here.”

Marquinhos and Gabriel are expected to start at the heart of defence together for Brazil during the summer tournament across the United States, Canada and Mexico.