The voices from the past provided some backdrop and also forebodings to Arsenal fans before the Champions League final, as the video montage brought us soundbites from Jimmy Magee and George Hamilton, with a familiar theme of what-might-have-been in recounting failings when the chips were down. “Disaster.”“Abject failure.”We all got the drift and wondered what Des Curran, the latest incumbent of the commentator’s mic for RTÉ in football matters, would add to the vocabulary legacy for the match against Paris Saint-Germain in Arsenal’s bid to finally, possibly, get their hands on the Champions League trophy.Before that, though, came the matter of Arne Slot’s sacking as Liverpool manager, which brought quite the contrasting narrative from the football pundits – aka Kevin Doyle and Stephen Kelly – in the studio with host Darragh Maloney.Doyle, for one, wasn’t impressed with Liverpool’s move, outlining how it had been a tough year for Slot’s team since the tragic death of Diogo Jota. “Jota’s locker was still there,” said Doyle, recounting how players would have that visual reminder every day when turning up for training. “He deserved more than that, deserved time, respect, for another season.”His was a lone voice. Not only did Kelly agree with the decision to fire Slot, but so too did former Liverpool legend Ronnie Whelan – pitchside in Budapest with Curran – who remarked: “It was the right time for him to go.”As Kelly put it: “Football’s a harsh game but at the top level you demand results.”The pre-match punditry had the three wise men in studio pretty much singing off the same sheet. “We’ve the best team with the ball against the best team without the ball,” remarked Maloney while Doyle bigged up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, aka “the Georgian Maradona” who we were told by the drooling analysts was a complete bargain for the €60 million PSG had forked out for him.And the scene-setter in the Puskás Aréna brought promise too, with The Killers leaving nothing behind in their short blast from the past of their hits.Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembélé lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates winning the Champions League. Photograph: Franck Fife Getty Images An omen, perhaps?What followed was hardly energetic, with Kai Havertz’s brilliantly executed early goal changing the dynamics, and the Gunners going into default mode of defending to a man and slowing-down tactics that had Whelan as frustrated as the PSG players.“The dark arts,” suggested Curran.“I don’t know how they get away with it ... you play the ref in terms of what you can get away with,” said an exasperated Whelan, as ironically the final play of the first half was cut short by the referee’s whistle without time for Arsenal to take the corner, their own tactics seemingly coming back to haunt them.Back in the studio, the boys were understanding of the frustrations but admiring too of the Arsenal conviction in sticking to their guns.“Is this the Arsenal master plan working out to perfection?” wondered Maloney.[ Mikel Arteta finds Arsenal’s Champions League loss to PSG ‘very tough to accept’Opens in new window ]Kelly nodded. “Arsenal’s concentration, their attention to detail defensively, their discipline is amazing ... as a neutral to watch, it’s not great but this is what they do.”Doyle, in fairness, had a wee laugh at himself in bigging up Kvaratskhelia beforehand (although it was fully justified in the second half with the Georgian’s wizardry), and remarked of PSG: “They looked leggy, a bit clueless.”Not in the second half, though. The brilliantly executed penalty from Ousmane Dembélé – won by, yes, Kvaratskhelia’s run into the box – levelled matters. “For me, it’s a penalty,” voiced an adamant Whelan who would later observe, as the match moved into extra-time and a complete slowdown in energy as exhausted players fell to the turf: “They’re dropping like flies.”Penalties it was, so. “Who can hold their nerve? Whose legs are fresh enough to take the penalties?” asked Kelly ahead of the spot kicks that again delivered heartbreak for Arsenal with Gabriel’s penalty – the 10th of the shoot-out – sailing high over the bar.And, in fairness to Curran and Whelan, they stuck as gamely to their task through the marathon final which went all the way to a missed kick ultimately deciding the outcome. Next up for them, the World Cup. At least some respite time to gargle the old throats and get going again.