“I can be close to them” – Arteta explains how he’s helping Arsenal team get over disappointment

Despite Arsenal’s elimination from the Champions League last night, Mikel Arteta remains proud of the campaign they’ve had in the tournament.

The Gunners’ boss was interviewed by Brazilian outlet TNT Sports after the match, and explained his feelings after getting knocked out by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

Arteta highlighted how important it was for the German side to get a good result in London, with Arsenal having done their best in the second game.

“Well, first of all, congratulations to the rival, that have gone through. I think the margins have been very small. I think the tie is very conditioned by the two goals we gave in London, by individual mistakes. At this level you pay a lot and then today it has been seen,” said Arteta.

“They have respected us a lot in the way of approaching the game. We have had a lot of courage to play the way we wanted. We have had the situations to score the goal, especially in the first half, and we have not done it. And the game was going to be decided in an action, in an error, in an individual action of a player and in a situation that we have not defended the box well. They have scored the goal and it’s over.”

Arteta was also asked about being in a Champions League quarter-final after many years, and highlighted the work done at Arsenal to get that far in the competition.

“Now it probably costs us to analyse it that way. The reality is that this club has been seven years without playing the Champions League. And the first year you play you want to get to the semifinals, to the final, because the team has the ability to compete. But today the story ends and now we still have a very beautiful one, that another year we are fighting the Premier League, we are very close. And now we have to go through the pain of tonight and tomorrow we have to start focusing on Wolves.”

Regarding the switch of focus to the Premier League, the Spaniard talked about the importance of supporting his squad.

“I wish I had something to tell them to make them feel better today. The only thing I can do is be close to them, defend them, tell them that I am proud to be their coach, of the way they compete, and that on Saturday we have another one.”

Following Arsenal’s loss to Aston Villa last week, the Gunners stand 2nd in the Premier League, two points behind Manchester City. Their final six games will be played against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth, Manchester United and Everton, starting with the match at Molineux on Saturday evening.