"An embarrassing situation and held-back tears": a painful memory haunts the Arsenal star at the Ballon d'Or ceremony

He finished in twenty-first place

Arsenal's star endured an awkward moment at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London on Monday night, where Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane walked off with the award.

According to "The Sun", Brazil's Gabriel was forced to relive the memory of his painful penalty miss in the Champions League final on his big night at the gala.

The 28-year-old Brazilian missed the final spot-kick of the shootout against Paris Saint-Germain back in May. That miss cost Arsenal what would have been their first ever Champions League title.

Those memories came flooding back when organisers played a clip of the Budapest final on the big screen, marking Paris Saint-Germain's Men's Club of the Year award.

Sitting among the audience in his suit, the heart of Arsenal's defence could only watch as the footage rolled.

Football fans wasted no time piling on across social media. One joked: "He's trying to hold back his tears", another wrote: "My brother was suffering from painful memories", a third said: "They are villains", and a fourth added: "He thought he could forget about it".

That painful night in Hungary aside, Gabriel was one of Arsenal's standout performers last season, when the team lifted the Premier League title.

He finished 21st in the Ballon d'Or voting, six places behind Arsenal teammate Declan Rice.