AC Milan chief Massimiliano Mirabelli says he feels "sorry for Arsenal’ after they were drawn against the Italian giants in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Mirabelli added that he's sure the north London club 'would have liked to have continued in Europe', suggesting their campaign is about to come to an end.
Arsenal scraped through their round of 32 tie against Ostersunds FK, who they battered 3-0 in Sweden in the first leg.
Graham Potters' men stunned them in the second leg at the Emirates, storming into a two-goal lead before the break.
Sead Kolasinac ensured the Gunners would be going through however, with a second half strike, as Arsenal ran out 4-2 winners on aggregate.
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Arsene Wenger's men learned their last-16 fate on Friday, and will now prepare for the challenge of AC Milan.
But it seems AC Milan chief Mirabelli is supremely confident the Italians already have the result in the bag.
"I'm sorry for Arsenal, who I'm sure would have liked to have continued in Europe," said Mirabelli.
"It would have been a nice final, but I'm happy. It's best to face a big club like Arsenal now. We needed opponents like these."
Milan's club manager Christian Abbiati told Sky Sport Italia: "Facing Arsenal is a fascinating encounter. It's bound to be a great tie."
Abbiati was in goal for AC Milan in both legs of Arsenal's last-16 Champions League clash with the Italian club back in 2012.
Milan won the first game 4-0 at the San Siro before they were thumped 3-0 away.
Recalling the second leg, while looking ahead to the test facing this Milan side, Abbiati said: "It was a disaster at London, where we lost 3-0, but in the end, we made it through.
"I hope we don't see the same mistakes this time. Milan are in good form at the moment with some good results and I hope we can keep it up."