“That I am so proud of them, with this season we have had under the circumstances. Internally, we know what we have been through,” kata Arteta.

Kendati berhasil mengamankan trofi Liga Inggris, manajer asal Spanyol itu mengakui ada rasa kehilangan yang besar karena melewatkan kesempatan meraih trofi tertinggi di Eropa.

“It is just a privilege to manage this group of players and this team, the way they carry this badge and how much they put into it.

We got a big one [Premier League] and missed out on the biggest one,” ujar Arteta.

Arteta juga sempat menyoroti keputusan wasit terkait potensi penalti untuk Arsenal yang tidak diberikan setelah dirinya menganalisis rekaman video pertandingan.

“I watched all the penalties in the competition this season over the past 72 hours to understand what's a penalty and not.

That easily can be a penalty,” tutur Arteta kepada BBC Sport.

Terkait penunjukan Gabriel Magalhaes sebagai eksekutor kelima, Arteta menjelaskan bahwa sang pemain sendiri yang meminta mengambil tugas tersebut setelah para penendang utama ditarik keluar.

“He wanted to take number five. We have prepared and trained for this moment.

Normally the penalty-takers would be Bukayo [Saka], Martin [Odegaard], Kai [Havertz], for sure.

But we knew if we went to extra time and penalties the penalty-takers would be different players,” ucap Arteta.

Faktor presisi dalam eksekusi penalti dinilai menjadi pembeda utama yang membuat Arsenal gagal memenangkan pertandingan final tersebut.

“You have to do this in this moment.

We are unfortunate not to have the same precision in this moment that they had and that's why we have not won it,” kata Arteta.