Arsene Wenger admitted just how good Barcelona are following his Arsenal side's 3-1 defeat at Camp Nou on Wednesday night.

The Gunners were in with a slight hope when Mohamed Elneny curled home a lovely effort in the 51st minute, which made it 1-1 on the night (3-1 on aggregate), but eventually succumbed to a stunning volley from Luis Suarez and a late goal from Lionel Messi after Neymar had opened the scoring in the first half.

Wenger felt Arsenal were beginning to make life difficult for Luis Enrique's star-studded side before Suarez's goal, and in the end, simply tipped his hat to the Catalan giants who came away with a 5-1 aggregate triumph over the North Londoners in the Champions League Round of 16.

"I felt from the bench they were wobbling a bit and a bit insecure," Wenger said.

"We could not take our chances to score the second goal that would have put us in a strong position.

"When they scored to make it 2-1 you could see we lost a bit of our edge and belief, but there were moments at 1-1 where you could see that we had our chances.

"I'm pleased with the performance we put in. The quality of our game was good.

"I'm disappointed with the result but overall we played against a team with the best strikers I've seen.

"The three together are absolutely exceptional and from nothing they can create a chance.

"Well done Barca. They are an exceptional side."