Interview

Arteta – We are all devastated

Mikel Arteta could not hide his disappointment following our elimination from the Europa League on Thursday night.

A goalless draw at Emirates Stadium meant that Villarreal progressed to the final, having won 2-1 in the first leg in Spain.

The boss spoke in front of our cameras after the final whistle and admitted he was 'devastated' with our elimination from the competition.

"We are all devastated," he told Arsenal Media. "We wanted to deliver something for this football club and get to the final and reach the Champions League next season and give something to our fans.

"Unfortunately, today we came up short. There were moments in the second half, we hit the post twice, then we had an empty goal to put the ball in the net.

"Small margins define these ties and today we came up short.

"When you lose a semi-final or a final you'll always have things you wanted to do differently. We haven't played at our best over the two legs.

"Certainly in the first half an hour in Villarreal and the first half here. Even still, we were in the tie after all that, and we could have been easily through to the final.

"We haven't arrived individually in the best possible way in the defining moments when the big players have to step up. 

"Today we have to swallow a huge disappointment for everybody but we had a terrific run in the competition with the very difficult teams that we've had.

"Now we have a game on Sunday and our responsibility is to go and win the remaining games and give us a chance to see where we finish."

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