Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech thanked Rennes fans for their reception last night.

Cech spent two seasons with the Ligue 1 side before earning a move to the Premier League in 2004, and was given a warm welcome by the home fans within Roazhon Park ahead of kick-off on Thursday.

After the 3-1 Europa League defeat, Cech said: "Yeah it was a bittersweet return. The reception I got from the home fans was brilliant and obviously I appreciate it. We came here with the objective of winning the game and putting ourselves in a good position, and we're leaving with a result that is not good.

"It's been a pleasure for me to come back. I have great memories from the two seasons that I spent with Stade Rennais and I was very pleased with the draw when we got them. I have to say a big thank you to everybody for such a good reception, but the game was bitter for me because we wanted to have a positive result, we wanted to win and put ourselves in a good position before the second game. We couldn't do so because losing 3-1 is not what we wanted."