Arsenal: Arteta reveals another excuse for CL exit, doubles down on Gunners better than PSG verdict

Mikel Arteta has revealed another excuse for Arsenal’s Champions League exit following their 3-1 aggregate defeat against Paris Saint-Germain.

Arteta is under intense scrutiny following Arsenal’s exit from the Champions League and will be under pressure to deliver at least one trophy next season.

The Gunners have declined in the Premier League as they have fallen short in the race for the title for the third consecutive season.

They have also failed in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, while they were bested over two legs against PSG in the Champions League semi-finals.

PSG were the deserved winners as goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi added to their lead before Bukayo Saka netted a late consolation for Arsenal in the second leg.

Despite this, Arteta subsequently claimed that Arsenal were the better side in the semi-final, with PSG’s “MVP” supposedly Gianluigi Donnarumma making the difference.

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When asked whether Arsenal’s failure to take chances against PSG highlighted what they need to do this summer, Arteta shoehorned another excuse, claiming Hakimi should have been sent off in the first leg and “shouldn’t” have played in the second leg.

“Yeah, but I mean that’s very volatile, and regardless of the players that you have, it happens,” Arteta said.

“And nobody can predict when there was a semi-final Inter versus Barcelona, if any of you could predict who was going to score, how he was going to score, it’s impossible.

“It’s the right-back that scored a goal, he [then] he has the best chance in the game and he missed it. The centre-back that is left-footed scored with the right foot.

“Then, against us, Hakimi, for sure, he shouldn’t be in the game the last ten minutes of the first leg so he could not play the second game and score when the expected goals are 0.07. It’s a lot of random things in football.”

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Arteta also doubled down on his earlier suggestion that Arsenal were better than PSG over two legs in the semi-final.

He added: “100%. I’m watching it back, I’m watching all the stats. Obviously we have the best stats, and the best goal difference in the semi-final.

“So it’s very clear. But it’s not about the winning probability or what you merit, it’s actually making it happen and making it count.

“When you look at the important stats that normally give you the best platform to win football matches, it’s crystal clear who was better.”