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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has called on his players to bounce back stronger following their 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that saw them knocked out of the Champions League semi-final following a 3-1 aggregate loss.
The Spaniard insisted the squad have to be prepared to "take those difficult moments on the chin" (via arsenal.com). He acknowledged how well his team did to reach this stage of Europe's top competition, but also claimed it is not enough to say they were "very close."
Arteta now wants to see his players display a sense of resilience to come back from their disappointing defeat to the Ligue 1 champions in order to continue improving as a squad and a title-challenging force.
Mikel Arteta calls on Arsenal players to bounce back after PSG defeat
Arteta praised his side and reflected on how well they had done to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, but also said the defeat has to hurt in order to be able to bounce back.
He said: "We had an amazing performance, but it has to hurt a lot. It’s not enough to say ‘yeah we were very close, we competed so well, we were better than them for most of the game’.
"It has to hurt because if not it will happen again. We have to make more things and have more availability and we have to have more options. That's the next step."
There was no question in his mind over whether his players showed desire in the tie and claimed he could see how much they craved a win. He said: "Today I see how much they wanted it because they were in tears."
Arteta oversaw a brilliant European campaign for Arsenal, securing convincing defeats against the likes of Real Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting on their way to reaching the final four of the competition.
The boss said "You have to be prepared to take those difficult moments on the chin and get up" and pointed to PSG captain Marquinhos as a prime example and symbol of the resilience he wants his side to display from now.
He acknowledged the Brazilian's 11 'attempts' to win the Champions League and while he is yet to do so, has continued to challenge throughout his career in Europe.
With Arsenal now set to finish a fifth consecutive season without a trophy, there is no doubt questions will be asked of Arteta and his ability to lead this team to silverware. However, it would appear he is prepared to continue overseeing the development of this Gunners squad.
His young team are still growing as footballers and plenty of fans will have full confidence they can eventually bring trophies and prestige back to the red half of north London.