Mikel Arteta is hurt by Arsenal’s painful exit from the Europa League.
“It hurts, big time. We had a lot of hope in this competition. It was a great way for us to be able to go to Europe and it is a very beautiful competition to try to win. I think we did a lot of positive things in the game. I think we created enough chances to win the game, but if you concede two set-pieces again in a tie like this, then you put yourself in big trouble.”
On the goal Arsenal conceded, Arteta said, “Yes, obviously he could have kicked it out, but then there is another situation to defend. It’s not only the first phase but it’s the second phase of that corner that we concede and the player steps in and just taps in the ball in the six-yard box, which is unacceptable.”
“It is something that we have to improve on. We’ve done the most difficult thing to react after that, to play against a team with 10 men behind the ball in 25 metres. And even at the end, we had an incredible opportunity to win it. Had we gone through energy wise, it would have given us a big lift again and [brought] everybody together. It is a big disappointment and I am right behind the boys, the way they played, the way they tried. The effort that they put into game was enormous and we have to move forward together.”
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