• Champions League

Arsenal need miracle night, says Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker admits Arsenal must produce a "miracle" in Monaco next month to avoid crashing out of the Champions League.

Arsenal's hopes of making it through to the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition for the first time since 2010 were left in tatters after a shock 3-1 defeat to the French side at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsene Wenger's side will have to score at least three times against a team who had conceded just two in 17 matches before Wednesday night.

"We have seen a lot of miracle nights in all competitions," Mertesacker said. "European nights can be very frustrating, but they can also be wonderful. We need a wonderful night. We try to create a special atmosphere with our travelling fans. We are capable of doing special things, even away from home. Let's try to raise everyone's level at Monaco, try to get in our rhythm there.

"We could have scored more than three goals [in the first leg] and we can hurt them. We have to focus on that. We can't look back and think too much about this game.

"We will analyse what went wrong, but when we travel to Monaco we have to be on the front foot, be brave and get the best out of ourselves."

Mertesacker accepts Arsenal must quickly learn from their shortcomings against Monaco if they are to sustain a challenge in the Premier League, with Sunday's visit of Everton and then a trip to relegation battlers Queens Park Rangers coming ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United.

"When we came back there was a bit of hope with the goal we scored, but we tried to get the second," he said. "When you're 2-1 down, you think you can maybe score another one, that is what we thought. We were really up for the second one.

"We were naive at times but the plan is always to get the best possible result.

"I agree it was a hugely disappointing night, you could feel that after the game in the stands and in the dressing room, but there is still a small chance [to qualify].

"We are not happy with our performance as a team but we tried to fight back. We still have hope to come back even stronger from that disappointment."

Per Mertesacker admits Arsenal's defending was poor © Getty Images

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