Champions League exit not the end of Arsenal’s season, says Mikel Arteta

Arsenal’s boss Mikel Arteta reckons UEFA Champions League exit is not the end of the club’s season. The Gunners were knocked out of Europe’s most prestigious football tournament after they suffered a 1-0 loss in the second-leg quarterfinal against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

Arsenal lost 4-3 on aggregate as their run ended in the UCL. Joshua Kimmich scored in the 63rd minute to put his team in front and secure their semifinal berth.

Meanwhile, Arsenal also suffered a 2-0 loss against Aston Villa recently, which has dampened their chances of winning the Premier League.

“What (the players) need is that we stand right next to them, give them our support, our love, and I will have to pick it up because on Saturday we have a big, big, big game,” Arteta told reporters on Wednesday.

“We’re still playing for the Premier League and I really want it. We have to show now that we are capable of turning this around.

“(The pain) is there and it’s not going to go away, certainly tonight, but I can guarantee you by tomorrow, we are fully focused on Wolves and everybody’s lifted.

“What we still have to play for is beautiful.

The Spanish tactician feels the small margins are turning out to be the game-changer for his team in big matches.

“Those margins sometimes are coming from something else, that maybe we don’t have yet,” he added.

“We have to learn it, when you look historically, all the clubs to get to certain stages, it took them seven, eight, some of them 10 years to do it.”

Arsenal is in second place in the Premier League standings with 71 points, two behind table-leaders Manchester City after 32 matches.

The Gunners will next face Wolves at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday night.