Arsenal star Mikel Merino reacts to his side's crushing Champions League semi-final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 INTRO
00:00 Reaction?
MM: Was a big game for us, for some of us maybe the biggest game of our careers. We tried to start strong and I think we showed it in the first 10-15 minutes. We created huge chances and sometimes this is football, you score one of those and the game changes completely. But yeah, this is Champions League, it's about boxes, it's about individual habits, individual situations and even though the team I think created good situations on open play and even set pieces we weren't capable of scoring and that's the difference.
0:42 Moving forward, it's been a good season but you obviously wanted to win something. How disappointing is it that you're not going to win anything this season?
MM: Yeah, it's really disappointing because the mentality of this club of this squad is always to try to win big things. At the same time, this season is going to be a huge learning point for us because we have such a young squad with not so much experience in these situations. I think having played in Bernabeu, having played these games against PSG also is going to be a huge learning point for the future. We'll be back stronger, we will be back already.
01:20 Do you feel as if particularly younger players, can take a lot more from setbacks almost? The disappointments that you've endured this season and be stronger for it?
MM: That's completely true. Everyone says it, you have to lose first to win later. Those experiences are really, really helpful. I think in the future we will remember these kind of games, we will remember what is needed to win against top clubs and against top teams like you will face in this Champions League, also in the Premier League. So the things that somebody may think of as a setback, we have to look at them as somewhere to learn.
2:15 Take PSG - this is their 13th season in a row in the knockout rounds. They keep knocking on the door and they've had some heartbreak. But eventually, if you keep knocking on the door...
MM: You can see how difficult it to win the Champions League. You can see how difficult it is to win big trophies because only one can win and you will see many, many, many teams with huge potential and amazing players that every single year they get short, they don't get to the trophy. So, as I said, we have to be really proud of what we have achieved. Also, try to learn from it because we know we have made mistakes and the good thing is that we know it and we will learn, we will improve, we will work harder in this summer and try to.force ourselves to improve and in the future we will be stronger for sure.
2:55 When you say about making a difference and learning from mistakes, how can you make a difference and turn those chances into goals?
MM: It's about experiences, it's not only about turning chances into goals because sometimes that is j
By HaytersTV
May 8, 2025