Arsene Wenger was understandably proud of his team after their gallant effort against the might of Bayern Munich, when they had been given absolutely no chance, while Mikel Arteta said the side had given "absolutely everything" in their quest to remain in the Champions League.
Arsenal were up against it having tamely lost 3-1 in the first leg at the Emirates, but produced an outstanding performance at Bayern to win 2-0, falling heartbreakingly short by one goal, with the German side going through on the away goals rule.
"We were very, very close tonight (Wednesday)," Wenger told Sky Sports. "Maybe a few times we were lucky as well, but we had the chance of Gervinho, and there were maybe one or two set-pieces we could have done better.
"But the spirit and the performance was there, and overall we had a great go.
"The regret we have tonight is from the first game. We conceded a very bad goal in the last 15 minutes. If we had lost 2-1 at home, you can see how important that goal is tonight.
Arsenal were completely written off against Bayern, who are one of the tournament favorites, but a solid defensive performance coupled with one of their most professional outings of the season so far, brought them extremely close.
"I know these players and I've said many times they have a fantastic attitude and spirit," Wenger added. We have the quality.
"Unfortunately, we have to go out of the Champions League, but the positive is, of course, the performance and the spirit."
Arteta, who captained the side with Thomas Vermaelen left on the bench, said the early goal from Olivier Giroud made Bayern nervous.
"We gave absolutely everything we had in the game," he said. "We knew we had conceded three goals at home and it was going to be difficult, but we kept going and we kept believing.
"It was mentally a very difficult game to manage tonight. When we scored the first one they didn't look very convincing and we tried to take advantage of that. We scored a second one at the end and maybe with 10 minutes more we would have had a better chance.
"Coming here, not many teams win here. They have shown that they are a top side in Europe this season, so the lads deserve credit and the boss as well because he believed from the start that we could do it. We tried our best."
Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes admitted his team were a little lucky to escape into the last-eight, adding it was exactly the wake-up call that was necessary for Bayern.
"We have to look at this game in a very critical manner," Heynckes said. "The early goal for Arsenal was obviously just what they were looking for.
"We failed to put up a real fight against them in the first half. We improved in the second half and created chances to score, but overall we never had real control of this match and were never able to pass the ball in the calm and controlled manner we are used to.
"This should be a reminder for us that it takes two games to qualify for the next round. We weren't as focused as we usually are. We weren't as compact or as aggressive as we have been in recent weeks."
