The North Londoners had managed a 2-2 draw in the first leg against Thomas Tuchel’s crew but couldn’t cut it at the Allianz Arena, where Joshua Kimmich nicked the match’s sole goal, slipping away from Gabriel Martinelli to nod in a Raphael Guerreiro delivery. In a clash where the smallest details mattered, Kimmich’s header was all Bayern needed to keep their European dream ticking over. Arteta shared his woes, saying: “At the moment it’s a very gutted dressing room,” and “Very disappointed.
I cannot find the right words to lift them and I wish I had [them].” “What was the main reason for Arsenal’s defeat against Bayern Munich? We gave them two goals [in the first leg] and that’s a big advantage to give away.”
The Spaniard lamented his side’s defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, suggesting it was individual errors that ultimately cost them a place in the semi-finals. The Gunners boss admitted: “Today we’ve seen that it was through the margin of error that we conceded.” Arteta went on to say that he felt his team had been the better side across both legs, but they lacked the magic spark to unlock the tie.
“It has to be a mistake from them or a magic moment which unlocks this tie, and the first one we didn’t manage to win in the end,” he explained. “I think we were better than them [in the first leg] and had a lot of moments on top in that, but that spark around the box is what you need in these ties.” Despite the disappointment, Arteta remained positive about his team’s Champions League journey.
But we were very close.”
