The Gunners bowed out of Europe after a 1-0 defeat (3-2 on aggregate) to Bayern Munich in the quarter-final second leg on Wednesday (17.04.24) and the coach knows it will be tough to lift the morale of his players.

Arteta said: "I wish I had the right words to say to the players to make them feel better. What I am going to do - and all the coaching staff too - is to be close to the players.

"I feel so grateful to be the coach and to work with them every single day."

Arsenal were playing in their first quarter-final tie since 2010 and Arteta accepts that his team's inexperience may have been their undoing against the German behemoths.

The Spaniard said: "We haven't played this competition for seven years and we haven't been in this stage for 14 years. There's a reason for it.

"We want to do everything fast-forward, super-quick, in one season. I think we have the capacity and the quality to be in the semi-final because the margins are very small.

"Those margins are coming from something else that maybe we don't have yet. We have to learn it.

"When you look historically, it took other clubs seven, eight or 10 years to do it. Today, that's not going to make us feel better that's for sure."

Arteta has challenged his team to bounce back when they return to Premier League action at the weekend as they look to overhaul leaders Manchester City in the title race.

He said: "What I need to do is stand right next to them and give them support and our love and we have to pick it up because on Saturday we have a big, big game.

"We are still playing for the Premier League. The Premier League is there and we really want it. We have to show now that we are capable of turning this around."