Did Arsenal deserve to go out? Arsene Wenger and Per Mertesacker don't agree
Conflicting views on whether the Gunners deserved to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal were agonisingly eliminated from the Champions League last night, despite a gutsy 2-0 win over Monaco.
Having lost the first-leg of the tie at the Emirates 3-1, the Gunners went out on away goals. The result means they've now fallen at the Round of 16 stage five seasons in a row, losing to Bayern Munich twice, Barcelona and AC Milan in the previous years.
However the latest will be perhaps the hardest to take with Arsenal widely expected to advance against a team sitting fourth in Ligue 1 and shorn of former stars James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao over the summer.
In the aftermath of defeat, there were conflicting views on whether Arsenal deserved to be eliminated with manager Arsene Wenger viewing it differently to his players.
When Wenger was asked if his team should be out, he replied: "I don't believe so.
"If you look at the number of shots on target they had you will be surprised. Every defeat hurts but we didn't lose."
In contrast Per Mertesacker and other team-mates felt Arsenal didn't deserve to have their name in Friday's draw for the quarter-finals.
"The best team went through. Monaco deserved it because they played much better in the first leg," said the World Cup winner.
"We came here and tried absolutely everything. We could have scored more than two. We regret the first game."
Aaron Ramsey, who came off the bench to score Arsenal's second goal, agreed.
“We've always gone out to Bayern Munich and Barcelona at this stage but no disrespect to Monaco, we thought we'd have a good opportunity to qualify.
“But we gave ourselves a tough test from the first leg. It's nearly again, but it's not enough."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments