Arsenal’s dreams of making it to the semi-finals for the first time since 2009 were dashed by Joshua Kimmich’s header in the second half, which punished their careless marking.
The Gunners were drawn 2-2 in the first leg last week in north London, but they were defeated 3-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinal.
Arsenal manager Arteta lamented the defensive blunder that proved to be crucial in the second leg, calling it a terrible experience.
“The dressing room is currently completely destroyed. I am at a loss for words to encourage them. Arteta wished she had them.
“We made an attempt against a highly skilled squad. There have been extremely narrow margins throughout the tie.
“We have improved at times, but we gave them two goals. Giving up that advantage is significant.
As you can see, there was no margin of error today. We committed a serious error in our box defense, which led to a goal being given away.
Then things got challenging. We made numerous attempts, but it’s challenging.”
After Arsenal’s 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa on Sunday, Arteta’s team lost Premier League pole position. The Arsenal setback completed an arduous four days for Arteta.
However, the Spaniard maintained that his players should be given credit for their Champions League experience, arguing that it would take time for them to acquire the skills necessary to rule Europe.
“This is the time to stand behind the players and offer them encouragement. They are the ones that brought us along on this adventure,” he remarked.
“The team hasn’t participated in the Champions League in seven years. If you play in the first year, your goal is to make it to the final or the semifinals.
“We all wanted that so badly but you can see with many other clubs that sometimes it takes six or seven years to get to that stage.”
Leave a Reply