Kalvin Phillips didn’t step up to take a penalty in the heartbreaking shootout loss to the Azzurri, but his reaction to Bukayo Saka’s miss was truly heroic.

The Arsenal star looked a broken man after Gianluigi Donnarumma clawed away his tame spot kick and was quickly swarmed by opposition players who were in a state of euphoria.

Saka was all alone, until he was comforted by Phillips, who ran all the way from the halfway line without even taking a second to digest the result.

Phillips could easily have fallen to his knees after Italy’s victory was confirmed, but he knew Saka – who was just 19 at the time – was in desperate need of comforting as soon as possible.

A short time after the Euro 2020 final, City’s new midfielder explained why he sprung into action following Saka’s miss.

“For me as a person, I feel like if anybody feels disappointed or anything, I want them to be able to come and talk to me,” Phillips said. “In the way we lost the final, especially for Bukayo because he is so young, on a big stage, I just felt like I needed to go over and console him.

“I just said ‘don’t worry about it. I said ‘it happens in football.’ I said to him ‘lift your head up.’ Obviously he is going to be upset at that moment but even after the game in the changing room, I’m just saying ‘listen, that’s the way football is and if it was anybody else, we’d all do the same. We all think the world of you right now.'”

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