Arteta spoke to TNT Sports at full-time as the Gunners suffered semi-final heartache by losing 3-1 on aggregate
22:55, 07 May 2025
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta claims Arsenal have been the BEST team in the Champions League - despite crashing out 3-1 on aggregate to finalists Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners suffered heartache in Paris on Wednesday night as their dreams of overturning a 1-0 first leg defeat to book their place in the May 31 showpiece in Munich fizzled out.
Goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi in either half put the tie to bed as Bukayo Saka's 76th-minute consolation proved too little, too late, extending Arsenal's 138-year wait to become Kings of Europe.
The English Premier League giants stunned holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals with back-to-back victories but came up short against French treble-chasers PSG - who had goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank for bailing them out over the two legs.
And emotional Arteta claims Luis Enrique and his backroom staff acknowledged they were fortunate to get past the North London side.
He told TNT Sports: "Well, first of all, congratulations to PSG for reaching the final. The assessment I'll make when I'm a little bit cooler.
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"But the feedback I got straight away from their bench is that we're much better than them. When you look at the two games, the best player on the pitch has been their goalkeeper who has made a difference for them in the tie.
"I think we were very close, much closer than our results showed but unfortunately, we are out. I'm very proud of the players.
"But there's something extra you need in the competition to go your way, and it didn't."
The Spaniard added: "We were very close, yes, for long periods of both games we were much better than them.
"But we are not there, that has to hurt. If we want to win this competition we need to realise that there are certain things that are on us.
"I don't think there has been a better team in the competition so far from what I've seen. But we are out tonight. We deserved much more in both games.
"But this competition is about the boxes - the striker and the goalkeeper. And the goalkeeper was their best player in both games."
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