ARSENAL COACH Arsene Wenger has admitted the lack of any Premier League clubs in the Champions League quarter-finals is a wake up call for the game in England.
Despite their 2-0 second-leg win at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, Arsenal exit the competition on away goals after the last 16 tie finished 3-3 on aggregate as the Germans won the first leg 3-1 in north London three weeks ago.
With Manchester United and the Gunners bowing out of the last 16, while Manchester City and Chelsea failed to qualify from the group stages, Wenger said this season’s results shows the rest of Europe has caught up.
“It’s a massive disappointment for English football, for many, many years we weren’t use to that,” said Wenger. “It is a massive wake up call for us, if you think of the teams who have gone out, like Manchester United, City, Chelsea and now us, it is a long time since that happened.
“It shows that the rest of European football has caught up with us. We have to take that into consideration for the future.”
But Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes said English below-par performances are just part of football and the 67-year-old tipped the Premier League clubs to be back with a vengeance next season.
“I think comparisons like this don’t bring much, we have had German teams knocked out early in previous years,” said Heynckes. “I think Manchester United were unlucky to get knocked out and Arsenal showed what a quality team they are. You get cycles like that in football, I think the English teams will be back next year.”
