Mikel Arteta points finger at Arsenal's 'big mistake' in Bayern Munich defeat

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted a "big" mistake at the back cost them in their Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.

The Gunners drew 2-2 with Thomas Tuchel's side in the first leg in North London but fell short at the Allianz Arena. Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal of the game, escaping the attentions of Gabriel Martinelli to head home a Raphael Guerreiro cross.

In a game of fine margins, that was all Bayern needed. Tuchel's men might have missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in more than a decade, but their hopes of European glory remain alive.

It's the reverse for Arsenal, who now need to pick themselves up and focus on the Premier League title run-in. Reflecting on the elimination, Arteta praised his team's efforts but pointed to the need to turn their attentions to the weekend meeting with Wolves.

"At the moment it's a very gutted dressing room," Arteta told TNT Sports after the game. "Very disappointed. I cannot find the right words to lift them and I wish I had [them].

"We have to go through it, and we tried against a team that has a lot of experience, and through the tie I think the margins have been very small... We gave them two goals [in the first leg] and that's a big advantage to give away.

"Today we've seen that it was through the margin of error that we conceded. We made a mistake defending the box, a big one, and we conceded a goal, and then it was difficult."

Arteta suggested some of the damage was done in the first leg. Arsenal looked to be on top when Bukayo Saka struck first, only for Bayern to score twice in short order before Leandro Trossard's leveller.

"It has to be a mistake from them or a magic moment which unlocks this tie, and the first one we didn't manage to