An emotional Mikel Arteta claimed Arsenal did not deserve to lose against Paris Saint-Germain and that his players were left in tears as the Gunners crashed out of the Champions League.
It confirms yet another season without silverware for the north London club, extending Arteta’s barren run to five years.
Trailing 1-0 from last week’s semi-final first leg, Arsenal required a rescue mission but went behind through a stunning first-half Fabian Ruiz strike before Achraf Hakimi scored in the 72nd minute.
David Raya saved a Vitinha penalty and Bukayo Saka scored late on to give Arsenal a faint hope, but it was not enough as the Parisians sealed a 3-1 victory on aggregate — led by the heroics of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made a series of outstanding saves.
Arteta said: ‘One hundred per cent there hasn’t been a better team (than Arsenal) in the competition from what I have seen, but we are out.
‘When you analyse both games, who has been the best player, the MVP, it has been the same player — the goalkeeper.
Mikel Arteta insisted Arsenal were the best team in the Champions League after their PSG loss
Arsenal’s players were left in tears after missing chances and being punished by the Parisians
Arteta was convinced his side were better and that their injuries hamstrung their chances
‘And the Champions League is decided in the boxes and it 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. So I can take a lot of positives and I’m very proud of the team.
‘But at the same time I’m so upset, so annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it.
‘Today I saw how much they want it because they were in tears.’
On whether the best team lost, he added: ‘I think so, yeah. Especially across 180 minutes. I’m saying that and they (the PSG bench) are saying that because they just told me that.’
Arteta also referenced the injuries suffered by his side this season.
‘They 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. 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.’
PSG, who have now dumped out three Premier League sides in the knockout phases of this competition, will face Inter Milan in the Munich final on May 31.
On Arteta claiming that the PSG bench has said Arsenal were the better side, Luis Enrique said: ‘Mikel Arteta is a great friend, but I don’t agree at all.
‘In the two legs we scored more goals than them and that is the most important thing in football.’
When asked about beating all four Premier League teams in the competition, he added: ‘The league of farmers, no? We are the league of farmers!’
