Winning the Europa League would have been the perfect way for Arsenal to say goodbye to Arsene Wenger after 22 years of service - but it just wasn't meant to be.

Thursday night's 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano saw the Gunners exit the competition at the semi-final stage.

It was Diego Costa who came back to haunt Wenger's men, the Spaniard scoring the only goal of the second leg on the stroke of half-time.

When Antoine Griezmann played Costa through on goal, he made no mistake in outmuscling Hector Bellerin and beating David Ospina with aplomb.

From that moment it became mission impossible for Arsenal, who needed to score twice against a side that's only conceded four goals at home all season in La Liga.

And now the dream is over, meaning the next few days will be very tough for Wenger and his players.

One player who will arguably be more frustrated than most is Santi Cazorla. The 33-year-old hasn't played in 18 months and was forced to watch his teammates lose again on Thursday.

CAZORLA'S INJURY WOES

Cazorla is on the road to recovery but there's no denying Arsenal have missed him and could have done with his services against Atletico.

He spoke to reporters after the game and you can just tell from his interview (see below) how sad he is to not be playing.

Asked about not reaching the final, Cazorla said: "Yes very sad. We wanted to reach the final for many reasons: to save the season, for the manager, for the club and for the fans.

"And to be so close to the final, it's very hard. For now we just need to finish this season in the best possible way.

"Everybody was disappointed. It is not an easy moment, but we need to get our heads up.

"Football is like that sometimes - you win some and then you don't - so we have to congratulate Atletico Madrid.

"It was a very equal knock out cup tie here as it was at the Emirates. I think Atletico played their way of defending and contra attacking, finding spaces, we knew it was going to be like this.

"Here we had control of the game so many times, we created dangerous chances in the Atletico area. True we did not test [Jan] Oblak too many times.

"Personally I feel very frustrated because of my injury. I could not help the manager and the team, neither can I enjoy my football.

"From my side I always try to help the team from outside, trying to support my teammates because it's hard losing and being so close to the final.

"I always try to help everyone from outside and that's all I can do."