CL: Arsenal were unrealistic in approach, says Wenger after losing on away goals rule

Arsenal exited the Champions League on Tuesday despite winning their Champions League last 16 second leg clash 2-0 in Monaco, but losing on the away goals rule after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate

Arsene Wenger

Paris: Arsenal exited the Champions League on Tuesday despite winning their Champions League last 16 second leg clash 2-0 in Monaco, but losing on the away goals rule after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.


Arsene Wenger. Pic/AFP 

A first-half goal by Olivier Giroud and then Aaron Ramsey 11 minutes from time gave the Gunners hope but desperate defending by Monaco saw them hold on to reach the quarter-finals in front of a for once packed stadium which included celebrities such as U2 frontman Bono.

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The other game went right down to the wire but saw last season's finalists Atletico Madrid scrape through 3-2 on penalties over German side Bayer Leverkusen — Stefan Kiessling missing the penalty to settle the encounter.

The match had finished 1-1 on aggregate after Mario Suarez' deflected first-half effort sufficed to give them a 1-0 win in the game itself.


Arsenal's Olivier Giroud reacts during their Champions League tie vs Monaco. Pic/AFP 

Monaco emulated fellow Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain in eliminating a Premier League giant from this season's competition as PSG knocked out Chelsea also on away goals last week.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was gracious in defeat which ended for another season his ambition of winning the piece of silverware he most desires. "We knew it would be very difficult to score that many goals," said Wenger.

"We weren't realistic enough in our approach. "It's not a question of if we deserved to go through but of being realistic and we made too many errors in the first leg. 

"At the end of the day, we paid for our performance in the first leg. Monaco were playing at home but didn't have a shot on goal. We were very close but they surprised us in the first match because subconsciously we were too sure of ourselves."

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