Arsenal's Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhaes reacts after failing to score the deciding penalty during their Uefa Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday night.
There was a time when football fandom was defined solely by what and who you loved. You wore the colours, sang the songs, and rode the emotional rollercoaster of your own club’s weekend.
Today, however, modern football culture is increasingly fuelled by what you hate.
This shift was on full display following Arsenal’s heartbreaking Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest. Within seconds of Gabriel’s final penalty clearing the crossbar into the PSG Ultras, social media exploded. It wasn't PSG supporters leading the digital carnival, but rather a jubilant coalition of rival Premier League fans sticking in the blade even deeper.
"Hate-watching", the act of tuning into a match entirely in the hope of witnessing an opponent's downfall, has officially become a cornerstone of the contemporary football experience.
