Mikel Merino reveals how Champions League heartbreak can fuel for future success

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Mikel Merino says Arsenal will harness the experience of their Champions League semi-final run to fuel their pursuit of major trophies in the years ahead.

The Gunners reached the last four of Europe’s elite competition for the first time since 2009 but were ultimately undone by Paris Saint-Germain, who progressed 3-1 on aggregate after winning both legs of the semi-final.

Despite creating chances in both matches, Arsenal were unable to convert when it mattered most. Merino believes those missed opportunities—and the lessons learned from them—will be crucial for the club’s development.

“It’s about experiences,” Merino told reporters. “It’s not just turning chances into goals because that’s part of football. I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but on the pitch you feel it—everyone wants to score, but in certain moments, you need to show more experience, to play more as a unit. I think in the future we’ll be ready, for sure.

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“Everyone says you have to lose first to win later, and these experiences are really, really helpful. In the future, we’ll look back at these kinds of games and remember what’s needed to win against top clubs, to succeed in the Champions League and also in the Premier League.”

The Spanish midfielder acknowledged the disappointment of falling short but urged his teammates to take pride in their progress and learn from their mistakes.

“It’s really disappointing because the mentality of this club and this squad is always to try to win big things,” he said. “At the same time, this season is a huge learning curve for us. We have such a young squad with not much experience in these kinds of situations.

“We must be proud of what we’ve achieved, but also try to learn from it because we know we’ve made mistakes. The good thing is we recognize that, and we will improve. We’ll work harder this summer to push ourselves to the next level.

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“You can see how difficult it is to win the Champions League, how hard it is to lift big trophies. Only one team can win, and every year you see many teams with huge potential and amazing players fall short.”

Arsenal’s focus now shifts back to the Premier League, where they travel to Liverpool on Sunday. The Gunners currently sit second in the table and are determined to finish the season strongly.

“Nobody feels like this season is over,” Mikel Merino added. “We know we have big challenges ahead, and this game has to give us energy for the future—to finish with a good atmosphere in the dressing room and with the fans.

“We need to show everyone that we’re still hungry for more. We have to finish the season on a high so we can go into the summer with the belief that we’ll come back stronger.”

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