Arsenal 'pain' will fuel fire after Champions League heartbreak

PSG retain Champions League after penalty shootout win over Arsenal

That was the first word out of Mikel Arteta's mouth in his post-match news conference when asked how he would sum up the Champions League final defeat to Paris St-Germain in Budapest.

On Sunday, Arsenal will get on an open-top bus parade to celebrate their Premier League title, less than 24 hours after their final heartbreak.

The Gunners, who were unbeaten in the Champions League this season heading into Saturday's final, missed out on becoming European invincibles with their penalty shootout defeat.

Arsenal are hurting but they will fly back from Hungary early on Sunday before joining their fans to celebrate a season to be proud of.

Before the game manager Arteta said he wanted to use the Premier League success as a platform to reach bigger destinations and to aim for more silverware.

But unfortunately, his side fell at the final hurdle in their pursuit of a first European trophy, in their first final in the competition since 2006.

Arsenal produced a battling display but lacked attacking quality as PSG dominated with 75% possession and eventually won on penalties as centre-back Gabriel skied his penalty in the shootout.

The Gunners have still had an excellent season, winning the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, but could the manner of the defeat be what pushes Arsenal on next season?

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The Arsenal manager and players understandably looked dejected at the full-time whistle.

"It is very tough to accept when you are so consistent all the way to the final and in the end you lose the trophy on penalties," Arteta said, before mentioning the decision not to give Arsenal a penalty in the second half when Noni Madueke tangled with Nuno Mendes.

"I watched all the penalties in the competition in the last 72 hours to understand what a penalty is and what is not, and that easily can be a penalty," said the Spaniard.

"But it is if, if, if. It is not what happened.

"We need to do better, we have to improve and find different margins to get the outcome that we want."

Arteta has already turned his mind to next season and helping Arsenal return to this stage.

"First of all I will take a few days with my family and they will start the process to review what we've done," he said.

"We'll start to make some very important decisions if we want to reach another level.

"And we're going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it, but it's going to demand us to be very ambitious, very fast and very smart."

Arsenal spent around £250m in last summer's transfer window and they look set to invest again, with a midfielder, left winger and striker all targets this summer.

"They are 100% not going away," Nedum Onouha told BBC Sport.

"They have shown this season and last season that they are good enough to go deep in the Champions League.

"Even though they have lost they are still one of the best teams in Europe."