Mikel Arteta: ‘We’ll show the ambition and go again’ after Champions League final loss

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said after his side’s painful Champions League final loss on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain that he and his side will take the time to reflect and reset in order to chase the European crown next season.

Reflection and ambition 

"It's very tough to accept,” Arteta told TNT Sports after the loss.

“You are so consistent in the competition all the way until the final and in the end you lose the trophy on penalty kicks. It is a difficult one.

"We haven't done it for 22 years [win the league] and it is only the second time in our history [we have reached the final].

"We need to recognise the season that we had. Nobody is going to take the pain away from you.

Learning from the pain

"I think you have to go through the motions,” the Gunners boss added.

“If you are in pain, go through the pain. If you have done something wrong, you have to learn from it.

"Reflect on that. Show the ambition that we want to go again.

"I'm so proud of them [the players]... we know internally what we've been through. To manage this group of players, the way they carry this badge.

“We got to the big one and we missed on the biggest one."

Despite the crushing defeat, Arsenal still walk away from the 2025-26 season with notable success.

A Premier League triumph and a Champions League runners-up medal is what the higher-ups at the North London club would have deemed an acceptable outcome in a period of the Arteta era that was in desperate need of more silverware.

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