Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was left ruing defensive mistakes in the first leg of his side’s Champions League last-16 clash after winning 2-0 last night and coming close to knocking out Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
The Gunners triumphed on the night thanks to an early Olivier Giroud strike and a late Laurent Koscielny goal, but after their 3-1 defeat in North London it was the German side who progressed on away goals.
Mario Mandzukic’s late third goal at the Emirates was the difference between the two sides over the two legs and it is a goal which still irks Wenger.
“It’s very difficult to go out of the Champions League for anybody, especially when you lose at home, you make it difficult for yourself,” he said.
“We played against one of the best teams in Europe. The spirit and the performance was there we had a great go.
“My regret from first game is that we conceded a cheap goal in the last five minutes when we could lose 2-1 at home. You can see how important that goal was tonight.”
Despite his frustrations, a victory against a side 20 points clear in the Bundesliga did give some comfort to the Frenchman.
“Positives, of course, were the performance and the spirit,” he said.
“The clean sheet and overall defensively we were very good. We lost some balls off some situations which frustrated at times.
“I am confident we will give everything to come back next season. Our young players did very well let’s finish well this season strongly.”
Arsenal often had their backs to the wall and had to rely on their back four and goalkeeper at times in what was an impressive defensive display.
Defender Carl Jenkinson spoke of his pride in his team-mates.
“We got that early goal we needed and we knew it would be important to keep it tight at the back,” he said.
“We did that, we got the second goal and I thought we could do it. I’m proud of the boys and proud of the effort we put in when everyone wrote us off.”
Bayern winger Arjen Robben hopes the defeat will be a wake-up call for his side as they look to win the competition for the first time since 2001.
“All compliments to Arsenal, they did a great job, but we are happy that we are through.” He added: “Let’s hope its a wake up call for us, we have done amazing, we have played some terrific football .
“You always have to be focused on our own game, everybody was speaking about us saying it couldn’t be any better but maybe (this result) could be good for the future.”
l Malaga’s European run continued into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after Manuel Pellegrini’s men overcame a one-goal first leg deficit to beat 10-man Porto at La Rosaleda.
Isco’s wonderful opener minutes before the break gave the home side the lead to cancel out Joao Moutinho’s first leg goal before substitute Roque Santa Cruz scored just four minutes after coming on to seal a famous win.