Mesut Ozil tries to lift Arsenal team following Champions League exit [divider]

Mesut Özil praised his teammates effort following Arsenal’s Champions League Last 16 exit in an attempt to raise moral ahead of the FA Cup and Premier League campaigns.

“I want to praise the whole team,” Özil told the official Arsenal website.

“We dominated the whole game there and gave everything. We couldn’t find that last goal but we can be proud of ourselves.”

Özil also praised the Ligue 1 outift for how they played but underlined that Arsenal could have progressed had they took their chances.

“We knew that Monaco would make it difficult for us by playing defensively. We dealt with that very well and created a number of opportunities, that we unfortunately didn’t convert,” he added.

The Gunners beat Monaco 2-0 in France but the Ligue 1 side ended up eliminating Arsenal from the competition on away goals.

Arsenal have now failed to make the Champions League quarter-finals for the fifth season running.

The Gunners are however, unbeaten in their last four second-leg Last 16 games.

The North London based side are currently third in the Premier League just one point behind second placed Manchester City.

Arsenal take on Newcastle United away from home next in the Premier League.