‘They were in tears’: Arteta says Arsenal squad emotional after Champions League exit | Arsenal

An emotional Mikel Arteta said that his players were in tears after being eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain but insisted that Arsenal had been the better team for most of their Champions League semi-final defeat.

Despite a promising start that saw Gianluigi Donnarumma produce a magnificent stop to deny Martin Ødegaard, goals from Fabián Ruiz and, after David Raya had saved a weak penalty from Vitinha, Achraf Hakimi gave Luis Enrique’s side a commanding 3-0 lead on aggregate. Bukayo Saka pulled one back and could have made things interesting in the last 10 minutes if he had converted another chance, having been denied earlier by another outstanding Donnarumma save.

Arteta felt that the Italian goalkeeper had been the major difference. But he was also adamant that Arsenal had been the better side over the two legs.

“I think so,” he said. “Especially across 160 minutes. I’m saying that and they are saying that because they [the PSG bench] just told me that. When you analyse both games, who has been the best player, the MVP, has been the same player, the goalkeeper.

“And the Champions League is decided in the boxes and it’s won the game for them because obviously today after 20 minutes and what happened in London as well, the result should have been very different. It gives me so much pride but at the same time I’m so upset, so annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it.”

Arsenal lost in Paris in their only previous appearance in the final in 2006 and must now concentrate on securing Champions League football for next season in their final three Premier League matches.

The FA Cup in Arteta’s first campaign as manager in 2020 remains the only silverware they have won under his management. Asked whether he felt this team is capable of taking the next step after missing out on the title again, he said: “Today I see how much they want it because they were in tears.

“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 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.”

After knocking out league stage winners Liverpool and then Aston Villa in the previous two rounds, PSG have now beaten three Premier League sides to reach the final in Munich at the end of the month. Luis Enrique’s side will face Internazionale as they attempt to win the Champions League for the first time after losing in the final in 2020.

Asked about Arteta’s assessment, the Spaniard said: “I don’t agree at all. They played in a clever way today but in the two legs we scored more goals than them and that is the most important thing in football. We deserve to be in the final.”