Arsene Wenger spoke to the media after Arsenal's defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League last-16. Below is a transcript of what he said:
on the performance…
It was a team performance and the quality was good. I’m disappointed with the result but we played against a team with the best strikers I have seen play together. It is exceptional, they can make chances from nothing. We could not take our chances to [find] a second goal that would put us in a strong position tonight but after they scored and it was 2-1, our belief was less than when it was 1-1. We had chances and Barcelona are an exceptional side.
on competing with Europe’s elite…
I could give you all the stats if you are dramatic enough to read the stats. They showed that we suffered but that should not be considered game by game. In football, you look the last game and you look at the positives. We have gone out in the last six years to top sides who won the Champions League after. On one occasion we lost to Monaco but the others are always against Bayern Munich or Barcelona.
on if he has any regrets…
We could have taken the dangerous situations we created. Barcelona, going forward in the final third with the quality of passing and creativity, Messi was absolutely exceptional. He went for 90 minutes and came out of the game without missing a first touch, no matter where the ball came from. Barcelona have two or three players who can transform normal life into art.
on Flamini coming off…
He was injured. He had treatment, then after I don’t know.
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