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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

Mikel Arteta ‘in pain’ after Arsenal miss out on Champions League despite final-day hammering

Mikel Arteta says he is still “in pain” and unable to offer a fair assessment of Arsenal’s season after the final day “miracle” his side needed to reach the Champions League failed to materialise.

The Gunners hammered Everton 5-1 at the Emirates on Sunday but needed Tottenham to slip to an unlikely defeat at Norwich, where they ran out 5-0 winners, to overhaul their north London rivals.

Victory over the Toffees at least saw Arteta’s side sign off with a resounding victory, but after last week’s derby defeat at the 2-0 loss at Newcastle on Monday that destroyed their top-four hopes, the Spaniard says it will take time before he is able to analyse the season as a whole.

“We did what we had to do, we knew that it wasn’t in our hands, we knew we needed a miracle and it didn’t occur, that’s it,” he said.

“I cannot assess the season today, I’m sorry, I’m still in a lot of pain after what happened on Monday. I cannot give a fair assessment on what we’ve done. What I can guarantee is that we’ve tried to squeeze the lemon as much as we can for every single drop and we reached the point we reached.

“I need the dust to settle, I need to go and get a few days on holiday because I don’t think today I’m going to reflect the season the way it is.

“I’m very grateful for everybody supporting our club, the way they’re giving us confidence, respect and motivation to drive forward because I think they believe in what we’re doing. But when you have it there - I’m a winner and I hate losing and we lost something we could win. That’s why I’m in pain.”

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