Lucas Beraldo stepped onto the turf in extra time and, moments later, stepped up to score PSG’s fifth penalty, completing a 4-3 shootout win after a 1-1 draw and delivering PSG back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles on May 30.
Searches for Lucas Beraldo spiked because the 22-year-old defender did more than hold a spot on the bench: he came on for the final 15 minutes of extra time and, with the trophy on the line, converted the kick that clinched Europe’s biggest club prize and a personal record.
The numbers make the moment unusual. PSG’s victory finished 4-3 in the shootout, capping a 1-1 match that required extra time. Beraldo, signed by PSG for €20 million at the start of 2024, now has 11 titles with the club and has become the youngest Brazilian ever — at 22 — to collect two UEFA Champions League crowns, surpassing Real Madrid forward Rodrygo on that particular list.
Beraldo’s path to that spot felt rapid on paper and decisive on the pitch. He joined São Paulo’s academy at 15, broke into senior football in 2022 at age 18 and, the following season, became an undisputed starter who helped São Paulo win its first-ever Copa do Brasil in 2023. Those milestones preceded a €20 million move to PSG and, within a year, a decisive contribution to a European final.
The most notable friction in the run-up to Saturday is that Brazil’s manager left him off his latest national squad. While Beraldo was converting the club’s final penalty and collecting a second Champions League winners’ medal, his name was absent from Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad list. The omission sits awkwardly beside the facts: a 22-year-old who has risen through São Paulo’s ranks, won domestic silverware, earned a big-money transfer and produced the match-clinching kick on Europe’s largest stage.
That gap between club acclaim and international recognition matters because it reframes what this title means for Beraldo’s career. At PSG he is now a two-time European champion with 11 trophies to his name. For Brazil, however, the decision to omit him raises a clear question about selection criteria — experience, tactical fit, or timing — none of which is explained by the matchday ledger that now lists May 30 as the date he delivered the decisive spot kick.
The immediate consequence is straightforward: PSG leaves with consecutive Champions League trophies and a 22-year-old defender whose résumé has suddenly become harder to ignore. The unresolved question is more consequential for Beraldo personally and for Brazil’s coaching staff — why was a player capable of taking and converting the club’s final, title-winning penalty left off an international roster? That omission is the single gap that will shape headlines and selection debates in the weeks ahead.
PSG will take the title; Lucas Beraldo takes the record. Whether Brazil’s next squad list reflects that reality is the next story to watch — and the answer to that will decide whether this weekend becomes the moment a national team door finally opened, or a striking footnote in a club career that is only just beginning to climb.
