The Gunners won 8-7 on penalties to book a place in the last four following a 1-1 draw in Tuesday's (23.12.25) quarter-final tie and the coach was impressed at the way his players bounced back from the "emotionally tough" setback of conceding an injury-time equaliser.

Arteta said: "Considering the number of changes we made, the energy and the quality we showed against a well organised team that concedes few chances, we generated a lot.

"The margin should have been much bigger. They weren’t, and when that happens teams have the quality to hurt you on a set-piece. That was emotionally tough to accept, but we stayed calm, showed great composure and quality in the shoot-out.

"I’m very happy for Kepa making the last save."

Arteta was frustrated that Arsenal didn't make their first-half dominance count and warned that his team will need to improve their finishing if they are to win the competition.

The Spanish coach said: "The margins should have been bigger, it should have been three or four and then you’re not worried about what happened in the last minute.

"The margins are really small when you want to win trophies and we have to pay attention to every detail to achieve that."

Arsenal recorded their fourth victory in a row with the result and Arteta lauded his team for being able to keep progressing on all fronts.

He said: "You have to win in different situations and contexts. We had two very difficult games which we managed to win.

"A credit to the boys that every three days they are performing at the level that they do."