A hurt Mikel Arteta warned it could be years before Arsenal lift their first Champions League title after losing in the quarter-finals to Bayern Munich last night.
After last week’s 2-2 draw in the first leg in London, both teams had everything at stake. However, Joshua Kimmich’s powerful header in the 63rd minute from Raphael Guerreiro’s cross sent the six-time European Cup winners into the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
The Gunners now only have the Premier League to compete for, and their season is on the verge of running out of titles.
Arteta said: “The players are devastated in the dressing room. I can’t find the right words to lift them up, I wish I could. We have to go through that.
“We tried against a team that had a lot of experience, the margins in the tie were very small. We made a mistake defending the area and conceded a goal.
Mikel Arteta admitted it could take years for Arsenal to lift the Champions League
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“The club has not been in the Champions League for seven years and in the first year it returned [people expect us to] play the semi-final and the final.
“We all loved him very much, but you can see that in many other clubs it takes six or seven years to reach this stage.” “We were very united, that is the reality.”
Arsenal lost 2-0 to Aston Villa in the league on Sunday and will face Wolves this Saturday. It is the first time since May 2023 that the north London club has lost consecutive games without scoring in either game.
Although Arteta has asked his supporters to stay behind his men in a time of need.
“It’s certainly not going to go away tonight, but I can guarantee you that tomorrow we will be completely focused on the Wolves and everyone will be up,” he said.
‘What we still have to play is beautiful. I said before that it’s time to stand next to these players. It’s easy to stand behind them and praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and a draw. Now is the time to stand behind them and be with them.”
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel praised Arsenal and believes they are at the level necessary to win titles.
Many thought that Arsenal could reach the semi-finals despite a seven-year absence from the competition.
Tuchel said: ‘They (Arsenal) are there. For me they are an elite team. It was a very, very close result. Perhaps what they miss a little is a little more experience in these round of 16.
“I wouldn’t judge them now on this week, where some of the results are a bit complicated, but in my opinion they are an elite team.”