Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage earlier this week by Paris Saint-Germain - the side that many pundits had described as the best team in the tournament.
That was not Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta's view, however. Having seen his side miss a number of good opportunities across both legs of the semi-final, Arteta was defiant in his support of his players.
"I'm very proud of the team," he said. "The team that I've seen today is probably one of the best, if not the best team in Europe. It gives me so much pride but at the same time I'm so upset, so annoyed that we didn't manage to do it."
Arteta felt Arsenal were the better side over the two legs and deserved to go through to a meeting with Inter Milan in the final in Munich later this month.
As it is, after a 3-1 aggregate defeat to PSG, Arsenal will have just three Premier League games left this season to ensure they are in the Champions League next year too, with the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest breathing down their neck.
Match of the Day pundit and Betfair ambassador Alan Shearer fired back at Arteta for his comments.
He said: "When you look at the bigger picture, there's no doubt Arsenal were second best over two legs against PSG. The best team went through and that'll be a concern, I'm sure. Despite what Mikel Arteta said, I don't think and I'm sure many others don't think that they were the best team over the two legs.
"At times, Arsenal played some good football this season, but not enough. They've been miles away in the Premier League, they weren't good enough in the Carabao Cup when Newcastle deservedly knocked them out, so all-in-all, it'll be a disappointing season again for Arsenal.
"The bigger picture is there for everyone to see and we've spoken about it so many times. I'd love to know who decided to go into the season without buying another striker. Whether it was Mikel's or whether it was the board who wouldn't pay for a striker that he wanted, I don't know. Whoever's decision it was, they've made a huge error because they tried to rectify it in January by getting Ollie Watkins and it's been a big problem for them.
"I know they have injuries, but even with a full squad I think they would've fallen short."
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