Mikel Arteta has revealed that Arsenal players cried in the dressing room after their Champions League semi-final loss at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. The Gunners were beaten in Paris on Wednesday night, going down 3-1 on aggregate to miss out on a trip to Munich later this month, and the disappointment of another near-miss took its toll on his players after the match.
The Arsenal manager also claimed that PSG staff told him the Premier League giants were the better team for much of the two legs, despite losing 1-0 at the Emirates and 2-1 at the Parc des Princes. Arsenal had 19 shots but managed just four on target with Gianluigi Donnarumma producing some brilliant saves to prevent a comeback for the north Londoners.
And asked post-match if he felt his Arsenal players still have ‘the hunger in their eyes’, Arteta responded: “Today I see how much they want it because they [Arsenal players] were in tears.”
The Spaniard then confirmed that members of the PSG staff had told him and his backroom team that the visitors were the better side.
“I think so yeah [we were better]. Especially for 160 minutes. They told us,” he said. “I congratulate PSG for being in the final. I think we deserve much more. The MVP is the two games has been the goalkeeper. He has won the game for them.
“You have to arrive in this competition at this stage with a full squad. I am so upset, so annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it. I feel proud, no one expected it. We were very close to making it happen.”
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice told TNT Sports: “I thought we were dominant today, if we score one of them chances in the first 15-20 mins then the game chances. Two mistakes from us and two goals for them. We gave it everything but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Over the two legs we could’ve scored more goals but Donnarumma has been unbelievable and it wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes you have to lose a few in order to win and overcome setbacks to grow as a player and as a group.
“We’re going through that at the moment in terms of the league and Champions League – we’ve been here back-to-back seasons – we’re growing as a team but we need to keep pushing and believing. We’re absolutely gutted but this doesn’t define us for sure.
“We’ll be stronger with our players back who have been out for a long time. We’re all desperate for it [a trophy]. That’s why we play football, we want to win trophies, we want to be at the pinnacle, winning stuff. For whatever reason it hasn’t been meant to be.
“We’ve been really close and it’s not good enough. Arsenal deserve to be pushing for trophies and winning things but there’s not a lot more we can be doing. A lot of superstars have suffered defeats to come out on top.
“It hurts, you see the boys, the manager. We wanted to be in Munich but this doesn’t define us and we’ll be back.”
While captain Martin Odegaard told the same broadcaster: “We gave it a proper go. We started the game really well. We were on the front foot, had the momentum, a few big chances but in the end it wasn’t enough. Between the boxes we did well inside the two over the two games we weren’t good enough.
“Credit to their goalkeeper who made amazing saves. It wasn’t enough and that’s painful. We were not strong enough in the boxes and that’s where we lost it.
“It’s painful, we wanted to do the big thing, a big goal in the league and the Champions League. Massive disappointment but we have to stay strong and together. Take the lessons, take the pain and use it to come back stronger.
“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.”