Arsenal may have lost narrowly to Bayern Munich, but our lads have gained more valuable experience

Arsenal was never going to have an easy game when they travelled to Munich for our second leg, especially considering our opponents continued success in this competition over recent decades, but I feel they could easily have won it if we had been just a tiny bit more clinical, and they can still hold their heads up after losing narrowly at a ground where we have historically been battered.

One thing for sure is that Thomas Tuchel knows that his team had to use every ounce of that experience to get past our young Gunners, who have not even been in Europe’s premier competition for the last seven years.

No matter how close we were to reaching the Champions League semis, there is no doubt that our lads have gained a mountain of experience from our amazing journey, and it won’t seem quite so daunting next season, as Mikel said after the game: “We haven’t been in the Champions League for seven years, we haven’t been in this position for 14 years, but our intention is to fast-forward everything and in our first season, be ready to play in the semi-finals and we were very close.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to do it, so we have to learn from it, me first, and earn the right to be in the same position next season.

“I’m obviously very sad. The dressing room is very disappointed. We had a lot of hope and invested a lot to go through, but the margins in this competition are super small, and we lacked to make the difference in those moments.

“We had our moments again. I think the team played with a lot of personality, but we lacked that magic moment at some stage or to force a mistake, because that happens as well to go through in the tie. We have to congratulate Bayern; they have done it, and they are through.”

When you think where we were just a few years ago, this Arsenal team have improved beyong recognition, and with a few more astute acquisitions in the summer, we will be even better prepared next year and will hopefully go even further.

We are improving every season, and long may it continue.

Onwards and Upwards!