Mikel Arteta reveals what he believes cost Arsenal against Bayern Munich

Mikel Arteta concedes that Arsenal’s lack of experience was evident in the Champions League quarterfinal defeat against Bayern Munich last night.

Prior to this match, Arsenal had not reached the quarterfinal stage of the competition in 14 years.

While they managed to overcome FC Porto in the round of 16, Bayern Munich presented a far greater challenge with their experienced squad and a manager who had previously won the competition in 2021.

Following Arsenal’s failure to secure a victory in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium, facing Bayern at the Allianz Arena was always going to be a daunting task.

Despite putting up a commendable performance, Bayern ultimately held a slight advantage, which proved crucial in the outcome of the tie.

After the match, Arteta said, as quoted by The Sun:

“We tried against a team that had a lot of experience, the margins across the tie have been very small. We made a mistake defending the box and we conceded a goal.

“The club hasn’t been in the Champions League for seven years, and in the first year back [we are expected to] play in the semi-final and final.

“We all wanted that, so badly, but you can see with many other clubs it takes six or seven years to get to this stage. We were very close, that’s the reality.”

Just Arsenal Opinion

It was a tough night for us in Munich, but this team is very young and is still learning, so we will be back and hopefully progress further next term.