Per Mertesacker has admitted that Arsenal remain far away from being genuine Champions League contenders, as he reflected on the club’s latest agonising exit from the competition. Arsenal produced a fine performance at Monaco on Tuesday night, winning 2-0 in the last-16 second leg but, after the dismal 3-1 first-leg defeat, it was not enough to avoid going out on the away goals rule.
The numbers continue to damn Arsène Wenger and his club. This was the fifth season in succession in which they had lost in the last 16 and, in 15 consecutive seasons of reaching the second round of the Champions League, Arsenal have made it to only one final and one semi-final. They lost the former to Barcelona in 2006; the latter to Manchester United in 2009.
The Monaco defeat raked over plenty of old ground. There had been the first-leg disaster, leading to ‘Mission Impossible’ predictions before the stirring second-leg comeback, which came up narrowly short. Over the 180 minutes, there was crass naivety and a lack of cutting edge mixed with nice football and never-say-die spirit.
Mertesacker can always be relied upon for candid analysis and he had no time for any hard-luck stories. The German defender said once again that the team had been mentally weak and he did not skirt the issue when he was asked how far they were from winning the competition.
“Far,” he replied. “When you get knocked out, you are far away. Monaco were very underestimated but they deserved it by playing well in the first leg. We had one bad game and that was enough to get knocked out. We were missing some good fortune in the second leg but we didn’t deserve it because we played so poorly in the first leg.
“It’s difficult to look back after such a performance in the second leg and think we missed in the first game that mental level you need to compete at the highest level. That was missing. We need to consider that every single day in training and in games. That’s why we are so far away.”
It was put to Mertesacker that the big teams do not miss any games at the highest level. “Yes, of course, we have to cut that out,” he said. “Especially, the first leg. It’s really disappointing for us.”
Arsenal lived to regret the concession of the third goal deep into injury-time in the first leg – in the end, the substitute Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco’s goal proved decisive – and the knowledge that they have been knocked out by the fourth-best team in France continues to grate. Monaco are not Bayern Munich or Barcelona.
But thoughts at the club have turned towards Saturday’s Premier League visit to Newcastle United and the desire to shape a successful finish to the season. Arsenal are in excellent form, with 13 wins in their past 15 games in all competitions and they sit third in the table, one point behind Manchester City in second. They are also into the FA Cup semi-finals, where they face Reading at Wembley.
“Firstly, we’re very disappointed and frustrated at not going through in the Champions League and giving away that big chance to go to the quarter-final,” Mertesacker said. “But, obviously, it’s another win that gives us that confidence you need at the end of the season when you are more fatigued than at the start.”
The midfielder, Aaron Ramsey, said: “We’re more than capable of beating anyone on our day and now it’s a case of being a bit more wise over two legs in the Champions League. That’s what’s cost us again this year. We’re still on for a successful season. The top two is within our grasp. And we still have the FA Cup to go for.”
