Arsenal went down fighting: Five Takeaways from Champions League heartbreak in Paris 

Read Gooner Fanzine print writer Charlie Ashmore's thoughts after Arsenal's PSG KO

Thoughts from Paris airport

And so, our European journey is done and with it the chance of silverware this season. 

The wait to correct our history of failure in Europe goes on for another season at least.

I have been through the full range of emotions in the last 24 hours but hopefully I can now calmly and rationally set out some thoughts.

1 - To Tifo or not to TIfo...

There was a lot of talk about atmosphere last week and much mocking of our "tifo" (when did this word enter the English language??) so let me start with those. 

If you're into tifos then there is no doubt the French did them a lot better than us.

Personally I can take or leave them and I doubt they make any difference whatsoever. 

2 - Parc life

Now what about the atmosphere?  

Well, if you were following the match on the BBC's live feed you would have had the impression that an hour before kick off the stadium was heaving and raucous.  It wasn't.  By kick off the stadium was full and noisy for sure. 15 minutes in and the noise wasn't so loud as our start was definitely having an impact. 

However, they had something that we don't have at the Emirates and that is a fella on the tannoy acting as the cheerleader. 

I cannot believe it is allowed but as soon as the crowd felt like it was flagging, up he'd pop to whip them up into a frenzy again. 

So for all the talk of the amazing atmosphere it needed assistance to maintain.  If you want real unadulterated atmosphere then Greek and Turkish crowds are where it's at and they don't need artificial stimulation.

3 - Away fans magnifique 

As for the away fans, we were magnificent until they scored and that knocked the stuffing out of us a bit. 

We regrouped and kept trying to urge the team on.

The second goal was a killer and prompted large numbers of away fans to leave. I was gobsmacked. I still cannot understand the mentality of someone that travels to a match and doesn't see it through till the end. At the end the fans that remained gave the team a rousing reception in recognition of their efforts which is exactly as i should be.

4 - We went down fighting: Arsenal's performance 

Now what about the performance on the pitch. 

The start was magnificent. 

We took it to them in a way that clearly had them reeling on and off the pitch.  The pressing, the pressure, the play were superb.  And with that came the chances. Declan Rice's header, the two saves from Gianluigi Donarumma. 

The worry when you are so on top but not scoring is getting caught by the sucker punch and sure enough it came. 

We seemed to lose our way a bit after that but we still created chances. 

The save from Bukayo Saka in the second half was incredible. 

Sadly Thomas Partey was not having his best game and his mistake led to the second goal. 

He was not alone. Myles Lewis-Skelly struggled a bit also and Jakub Kiwior gave the ball on occasions.

Still we regrouped and Saka nicked a goal and shortly afterwards had the chance to really set the cat amongst the pigeons. I have heard it said it was a sitter but that's not how it felt live. 

The ball was fizzed across the box and the keeper very nearly got to it, all of which meant Saka was I think not expecting it either so fast or indeed at all.

That was the last chance and we were out. 

But we had gone down fighting – we didn't drop out with a whimper.  We were an exceptional goalkeeping display away from progressing.  And we should all feel proud of our team for the way they took to the task.

5 - And finally...

Finally, despite my sadness at the outcome, I at least had a lovely morning in Paris, going to the reconstructed Notre Dame Cathedral – an amazing place – and then having a second fabulous lunch of the trip with Matt. 

Spare a thought for brothers Sam and Josh who I bumped into at the airport, fully ten and a half hours after their flight should have left but didn't for security reasons.  Great to have a chat with them and let me say how remarkably calm they were considering the day they had had (and how coherent they were given the lengthy opportunity to imbibe French lager they had been offered). Hope you made it back fellas….