Arsenal Failed To Make The Europa League Final, Arteta: We Are Devastated And Disappointed

Mikel Arteta (Twitter @arsenal)

JAKARTA - Mikel Arteta did not hide the disappointment he experienced over Arsenal's performance in the two legs of the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal.

Arsenal, who lost 1-2 at Villarreal headquarters a week ago, were finally eliminated after only playing 0-0 in the second leg at the Emirates, London, Thursday local time (Friday WIB).

"We created enough chances to win this round, much more than Villarreal created, but we were unable to take advantage of it," Arteta said after the second leg, quoted by Antara from the official UEFA website.

"The way we started the first leg was not good enough, we conceded from a set piece situation and tonight we arrived not at our best," he added.

Statistical records show that in the two semi-final legs, Arsenal can always outperform Villarreal in terms of both ball possession and number of attempted shots.

Overall two legs, Arsenal fired 25 attempted shots but their accuracy rate is so low, because only four have met the target. In contrast, Villarreal met targets nine times from 17 attempted shots in two semifinal matches.

In the second leg, luck was also not on Arsenal's side as their captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang twice had his chances denied by the goalposts.

Despite being disappointed, Arteta still congratulated Villarreal on reaching their first final in European competition.

"We are devastated and disappointed but have to congratulate Villarreal on reaching the final," he said.

"We tried everything until the last minute. Today in the second half I thought we deserved to win the game, but it all didn't happen because we failed to take advantage of opportunities," concluded Arteta.

Villarreal progress, as we are eliminated at the semi-final stage.🏆 #UEL

- Arsenal (Arsenal) May 6, 2021

Arteta will now have to fight hard in the remaining four Premier League matches if he doesn't want to break the appearance record for the Gunners, who have always taken part in European competitions for 25 seasons.

In the Premier League, Arsenal are ninth with a collection of 49 points and are at least five points behind the European qualifying zone with four rounds remaining.