Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has revealed that they don’t deserve to lose to PSG in their Champions League tie, describing his team as the best in the competition.
The Gunners boss insisted that they are the best team in the Champions League this season despite crashing out following a 2-1 defeat to PSG on Wednesday.
PSG emerged 3-1 winners in the tie to seal their second Champions League final in their history.
Fabian Ruiz, and Achref Hakimi scored for the hosts while Bukayo Saka scored a consolation goal for the visitors.
The Gunners failed to beat Donnaruma, who was in an inspired form for PSG in the encounter.
Arteta claimed Donnaruma was the best player for PSG over the two legs.
He said: “We were very close, much closer than the result showed, but unfortunately we are out.
“I am very proud of the players, 100% I don’t think there’s been a better team [than Arsenal] in the competition from what I have seen, but we are out.
“This competition is about the boxes and in both boxes are the strikers and the goalkeepers and theirs was the best in both games.
“When you analyse both games, who has been the best player? The MVP has been the same player, the goalkeeper.
“And the Champions League is decided in the boxes and it’s won the game for them because obviously after 20 minutes, and what happened in London as well, the result should have been very different.
“So I can take a lot of positives and I’m very proud of the team. We have to arrive in the competition at this stage with the full squad, fully available, in the best condition. We haven’t got that, so let’s put that aside.”
Arteta said his team is arguably the best team in the Champions League this season.
He said: “Still, the team that I’ve seen today is probably one of the best, if not the best team in Europe.
“It gives me so much pride, but at the same time I’m so upset, so annoyed that we didn’t manage to do it. I see how much they wanted it, because they were in tears. It hurts, but you have to deal with that.”
Meanwhile, PSG coach Jose Enrique disagreed with Arteta, saying that his team deserved a place in the final.
He said: “Mikel Arteta is a great friend, but I don’t agree at all. They played in a clever way and they got the match to the right moment for them because they played in the way they wanted, and the way they love. But in the two legs we scored more than them and that is the most important thing in football.
“Arsenal played a great match, and we suffered, but we deserved to get to the final. They are a great team, but I repeat, we scored more goals, we played in a great way in the first leg, and the second half of the second leg was a different match, and we could have scored even more goals.”
The Spanish manager also joked that the Ligue 1 is a farmers league for defeating four English teams in the Champions League this season.
PSG defeated Man City in the group stage before getting the better of Liverpool in the second round and then sending Aston Villa out of the competition in the quarter-finals.
He said: “The league of farmers, no? We are the league of farmers. It’s nice. Now we are enjoying not only the results but also the compliments of everybody speaking about our team.
“We are a young team but the mentality and character, and also how we play football, I think is nice. I also have to congratulate my players because they are great.”
Enrique admitted that the final against Inter Milan will be tough, urging his players to rest and prepare for the encounter.
He concluded: ‘It’s going to be tough, but I think they have the same feeling. It’s going to be an interesting final, very difficult for both teams, but it’s a special moment for all of us, for them also.
“It is their second final in three years, which means they are a great team, but we have time to analyse Inter. Now it’s time to celebrate, to enjoy and have some rest.”
PSG will be playing in their second Champions League final after losing to Bayern Munich in the final in 2020.
