minutes" of the first leg ends ChamArsenal were left gutted as their Champions League dream died in Germany.
But Arsene Wenger revealed his pride after they came within a whisker of an amazing fightback.
Despite Arsenal winning 2-0 on the night, and levelling the aggregate score, Bayern edged through to the last eight on away goals, thanks to their 3-1 first leg win at the Emirates.
And boss Wenger admitted his biggest regret was the first-leg defeat which ultimately left them with too much to do.
Wenger said: “We were very, very close. Of course I’m very proud of the performance but as well very disappointed for everyone who follows Arsenal.
“When you look at our game tonight, we have many regrets about the first game. The tie is over 180 minutes and in the first leg we gave too much away.
“The second goal came too late [tonight] but we have a few opportunities: With Gervinho and Cazorla; when Giroud missed a back-pass to him - he was on his own. We had the chances to score.
“But to qualify is 180 minutes. It’s a bit similar to last year’s situation against Milan. It was just beyond us.
“The regret we have tonight is not this game but the first game at the Emirates. You could see tonight the weight of that very cheap third goal that we gave away with four minutes to go. It’s massive.
Alexander Hassenstein
“We were under pressure tonight. A bad performance would have been terrible for the morale and the pride of the team. The regret I have is that there is potential in the team and of course we are out of the competition.”
Wenger also praised stand-in keeper Lukasz Fabianski and his defence after Arsenal gambled on leaving out Wojciech Szczesny and Thomas Vermaelen.
“You’re never No 1 for ever and not on one game as well,” added the Frenchman. “Fabianski did well and on that performance you can only congratulate him.
“I believe the whole defence played well. Koscielny, Mertesacker, Jenkinson, Gibbs and the keeper all played well.”
Wenger insisted his players can take pride and use it to carry themselves back into the top four and into next season's Champions League.
However, he admitted that having no teams in the quarter-finals is a devastating blow for the Premier League.
Wenger added: “It’s a massive disappointment for English football because for many years we are not used to that. It’s a massive wake up call for us.
“We had Man City, Chelsea, Man United and us, all out before the quarter-finals.
“That means the rest of European football has caught up with us and we have to take that into consideration about the future.”
Gunners midfielder and captain Mikel Arteta said: “We gave absolutely everything. We kept going. We kept believing. It was mentally a very difficult game to manage.
“It was tough for Bayern because they didn’t know what to do: attack or defend. Maybe with 10 minutes more we could have had a better chance.”
Defender Carl Jenkinson said: “We really thought we could do it. I’m proud of the boys and the effort we put in.”pions League dream
