Defiant Mikel Arteta says Arsenal were best team in Champions League despite painful exit
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Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber and manager Mikel Arteta looking dejected after their 3-1 aggregate loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final, second leg on May 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – Mikel Arteta defiantly insisted Arsenal were the best team in the Champions League this season, despite their semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain on May 7 which left his players in tears.
The Spaniard’s Premier League side crashed to a 3-1 aggregate defeat after losing 2-1 in the second leg at the Parc des Princes. It was a painful loss for the Gunners, who created numerous chances in the early stages, only to be denied by a series of superb saves from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Goals from midfielder Fabian Ruiz and defender Achraf Hakimi put PSG in control and, although forward Bukayo Saka reduced the deficit, it was too late to spark a sensational fightback.
PSG will meet Inter Milan in the final on May 31, while Arsenal face up to a trophy drought that has now extended to five years.
Arteta responded to the loss in combative fashion, claiming Arsenal were as good as the Ligue 1 champions and were unlucky not to have beaten them.
“When you look at the two games, their best player on the pitch has been the goalkeeper. He has been the difference for them in the tie,” Arteta said.
“I’m very proud of the players. 100 per cent I don’t think there’s been a better team in the competition from what I have seen, but we are out. We were very close, much closer than the result showed, but unfortunately we are out.
“After 20 minutes, it should have been 3-0. We were very close and for long periods of both games we were much better than them, but we are not in the final and that has to hurt.”
Hurt it did, but Arteta saw a silver lining in his players’ tears.
“Today, I see how much they want it because they were in tears,” the Spaniard said.
“This squad, two years ago, nobody believed that we could even probably qualify for the Champions League, not even think that we could finish second and compete in the (English) league.
“Perhaps the amount of points that we had in any other year, you are champions. But the reality at the end is you need something to lose and that trophy with all the work that we do and the disappointment is we don’t have them.”
Not for the first time this season, Arsenal paid the price for a lack of cutting edge and untimely defensive mistakes. And even Arteta had to concede the north Londoners were punished for their failings in both penalty areas.
“If we want to win this competition, we have to realise that. There are certain things that are on us. You shouldn’t just be understanding we are out. That is not the way I look at it,” he said.
“This competition is about the boxes and in both boxes are the strikers and the goalkeepers, and theirs was the best in both games.”
Captain Martin Odegaard echoed his manager’s sentiments, saying: “We were not strong enough in the boxes. That’s where we lost it. We have to learn from this.
“We did a lot of good things, but it’s not enough. In front of goal is where games are decided, and that’s where we have to be sharper. We have to use this pain in a good way.”
Having failed in their bid to win the Champions League for the first time, the Gunners are still waiting for their first silverware since lifting the FA Cup in 2020.
Injuries to key players played a major role in their failure to push Liverpool in the Premier League title race. And Arteta insisted his wounded side’s gallant display against PSG – who had already knocked Liverpool and Aston Villa out of the Champions League this season – gave him hope for the future.
“The players deserve a lot of credit for what they are doing in the context of the situation and the amount of injuries, probably the worst state you could arrive here as a team,” he said.
“You have to arrive in the competition at this stage with a full squad in the best condition, and we haven’t got that. To come here with a different context and still do that, it gives me a lot of positives for the future, but tonight I am very upset, so annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it.”
Now Arsenal have to find a way to recover from their heartache and Arteta said: “If you want to be competing and be very close to all the trophies, you better be able to deal with that.” AFP, REUTERS
