Mikel Merino says Arsenal should be ‘proud’ of their Champions League run and vows the team will be ‘back stronger’ after PSG defeat | OneFootball

Mikel Merino admits he is very disappointed to end the season without silverware but says the Arsenal squad will be better for the experience of reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

The Gunners were eliminated from the competition with a 2-1 second-leg defeat in Paris, losing 3-1 on aggregate after their 1-0 defeat at the Emirates.

It means Arsenal will again fail to win silverware this season, and Merino admits that is a tough reality to face.

“It’s really disappointing because of the mentality of this club, of this squad is always to try to win big things,” he said.

“At the same time, this season is going to be a huge learning curve for us because we have such a young squad, not so much experience in these situations.

“But having played in the Bernabeu, having played against PSG, it’s going to be a huge learning point for the future. We will be back stronger, we will be back more ready.

“You have to lose first to win later and those experiences are really, really helpful. In the future we will remember these kind of games and remember what is needed to win against top clubs, to win in games you will face in the Champions League and also in the Premier League.

“So, the things that someone may think of a setback, we have to look at them as something to learn.”

Merino was also keen to stress that his side must be proud of what they did in the competition despite the disappointment of defeat.

“You can see how difficult it is to win the Champions League, how difficult it is to win big trophies because only one can win and you see many, many, many teams with huge potential, amazing players but they fall short of the trophy,” he said.

“We must be really proud of what we have achieved, but also try to learn from it because we know we have made mistakes and the good thing is we know it, we will learn, we will improve and work harder this summer to force ourselves to improve.

“We have to force ourselves in the future to be stronger, for sure.”