Mikel Merino insists Arsenal 'will be ready' for major trophies after painful Champions League exit | OneFootball

Merino is confident Arsenal will use this season’s Champions League failings to help in years ahead

Progress: Mikel Merino has backed Arsenal to build on their run to the semi-finals

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The French champions ran out 3-1 winners on aggregate after winning both the home and away legs of the semi-final.

Arsenal had chances in both matches, but they were unable to take them and Merino believes they will learn from it going forward.

“It’s about experiences, it’s not just turning chances into goals because that’s part of football,” he said.

“I don’t know how to explain it but you have the feeling on the pitch, everyone wants to score but in certain moments, to show more experience in certain moments, to be more as a unit. I don’t know how to explain in English but I think in the future we’ll be ready, for sure.

“Everyone has said you have to lose first to win later and those experiences are really, really helpful.

“In the future we will remember these kind of games and remember what is needed to win against top clubs, to win in games you will face in the Champions League and also in the Premier League

Arsenal were unable to take their chances in the second leg in Paris

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“It’s really disappointing because of the mentality of this club, of this squad, is always to try to win big things and at the same time this season is going to be a huge learning curve for us because we have such a young squad, not so much experience in these situations.

“We must be really proud of what we have achieved, but also try to learn from it because we know we have made mistakes and the good thing is we know it, we will learn, we will improve and work harder this summer to force ourselves to improve.

“You can see how difficult it is to win the Champions League, how difficult it is to win big trophies because only one can win and you see many, many, many teams with huge potential, and amazing players but every single year they fall short of the trophy.”

Arsenal are next in action on Sunday when they travel to Liverpool in the Premier League. The Gunners are currently second in the table, but they risk losing that spot if they do not pick up their form.

“Nobody has the feeling that this season is over,” said Merino. “We know we have big things ahead of us and this game today has to feel like energy for the future to finish with a good atmosphere, in the dressing room, with a good atmosphere with the crowd.

“We need to show to everybody that we are still hungry for more. We have to finish the season on a high to go to the summer with a feeling that we can come back stronger.”