Declan Rice said Arsenal are ‘distraught’ after exiting the Champions League to Bayern Munich.
Arsenal’s hopes of reaching a first Champions League semi-final since 2008/09 ended with a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, as Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal of the game to hand the German side a 3-2 win on aggregate.
The Gunners were unable to impact the second leg in a disappointing night in Munich, with Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard having the best of limited chances.
Rice said the north Londoners are ‘distraught’ after missing out on the chance to reach the Champions League’s last four.
“We’re gutted, we are distraught really,” Rice said, as per Arsenal.com.
“It’s just difficult to put into words. Over the course of the two legs, we had a great chance to go 2-0 up in the first game, and then we then had an uphill task because we went behind 2-1, but we managed to bring it back to 2-2. We came here after Sunday, and we were feeling refreshed and ready.
“You saw a reaction in the first half especially. We played with confidence, but were just lacking that cutting edge. But again, it comes down to the boxes and we conceded a goal which is unlike us, and to now go out with a header like that in a game that didn’t really have much in it, that’s the most disappointing thing to be honest.
“I’m hurting. I came into this game full of hunger, desire and passion. I wanted to just get over the line for this club and so did all the players as well. You could see it in everyone, everyone was so hungry together.”
Rice believes Arsenal will learn from the experience of their European exit, in the club’s first campaign in the Champions League since 2016/17. The England midfielder also insisted that Arsenal will bounce back at the club re-focus on their Premier League title challenge at Wolves this weekend.
“What I take from it is that it’s a learning experience,” he added. “We’re a young group. There’s a lot of demand and pressure on us now to deliver and rightly so because we’re good at what we do.
“This is Arsenal Football Club, one of the biggest clubs in the world, and we need to stand tall and be counted for. And, that now goes back to Saturday. We’ve got Wolves away, and that’s where our big reaction is going to happen.”
