Arteta said he was disappointed with his side’s result against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Allianz Arena.
Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League after a 1-0 defeat to Bayern. After the first leg at the Emirates Stadium ended in a 2-2 draw.
“Very sad and disappointed with the final result. It was a tie of very small margins,” Arteta said at his post-match press conference.
“In the first leg we conceded two poor goals. Today we came here and I’m really proud of the players, especially in the first half. It was a game where you can see an error or individual brilliance would make the difference. We didn’t defend our box well enough.
“Credit to the opponent as well. It’s hard to break the opponents down when they play in the manner that they did. We struggled to keep that momentum in the second half. They’re never games with big big chances. Very rare.”
Mikel Arteta admitted that reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League was a good experience for the team.
“I don’t know if it was about belief. The goal put them in a really good position. I saw the players. We lacked the magic to unlock the game and open that door. That’s why we are out.
“The club has been without Champions League football for seven years. The first time you want to be in it, then you want to be in the semi-finals and finals. We all want it so badly, but you see in many other clubs it takes six, seven years to get to that stage. But we were very close, that is the reality.”