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In what has become a predictable fashion, the Gunners failed to capitalize on their opportunities and their opponent’s weaknesses when it mattered the most.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta during the UCL semi-final against PSG (AFP)
Every now and then, in football, we experience someone showcasing grace in defeat.
It surely is not one of those times now, as Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta couldn’t swallow his pride after his defeat to PSG in the semi-final last night, defiantly insisting the Gunners were the best team in the Champions League this season.
After all the hoo-hah following their triumph over a dismal Real Madrid, Arteta’s side plummeted to a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain, 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 Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi put PSG in control, and although Bukayo Saka reduced the deficit, the England winger squandered an open shot on goal, killing Arsenal’s chances of a ‘Remontada’.
With their loss last night, Arsenal have now gone five whole seasons without winning any silverware, having last won the FA Cup in 2020.
A seemingly upset Arteta, though, undertook a combative approach, only at the press box, as he remained defiant about Arsenal’s superiority over the other teams in the Champions League so far.
“When you look at the two games, their best player on the pitch has been the goalkeeper (Donnarumma); he has been the difference for them in the tie,” Arteta said.
“I’m very proud of the players. 100 percent, 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.
“We were very close, and for long periods of both games, we were much better than they were. But, we are not in the final, and that has to hurt.”
In what has become a predictable fashion, the Gunners failed to capitalize on their opportunities and their opponent’s weaknesses when it mattered the most.
To be fair to the Gunners, injuries to key players played a major role in their failure to push Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Although bitter in the moment, Arteta also praised his players for trying their best under the given circumstances and stayed hopeful about 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 and annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it.”
(with agency inputs)
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