London  - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has described his side's 3-1 defeat by Manchester United in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final as the worst of his career.

Arsenal were humbled at home by the holders on Tuesday night with two goals inside the first 11 minutes as United cruised to a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Their exit means for the fourth season in a row, Arsenal will be without a trophy.

"It (was) the most disappointing night of my career," Wenger said.

"I felt the fans were really up for a big night and to disappoint people who stand behind the team so much hurts."

"The most difficult thing is that we do not have a feeling that we played a semi-final of the Champions League.

"We were out of it after 10 minutes and we had 80 minutes to play against a team who defend well and wait to counter-attack. We were in a position where we had to take all the gamble after having started quite well.

"I must say we can only look at ourselves. It is very disappointing to fight to get such a long way and to give the game away like we did."

Mistakes from Kieran Gibbs and Manuel Almunia gave United their 2-0 lead but Wenger said his side should take collective responsibility.

"We do not want to blame anyone individually," he said. "In three minutes we conceded two goals and it was too much.

"We were ready for a fight and the game but after 10 minutes it was impossible. We kept going and we did as much as we could. We played with pride and desire but of course some part of the belief had gone."

United dominated both legs of the tie and Wenger admitted that United deserved to go through to the final, where they will play Chelsea or Barcelona, who were set to play later Wednesday at Stamford Bridge after after a goalless first leg in Spain.

"It could have been over after the first game," Wenger said. "We had a good opportunity to come back but overall they were the better side."

Wenger has long lauded his side's youth, but said he was sure they would continue to improve.

"I need to take some distance from this season," stated Wenger.

"We are on a consistent run of 21 league games unbeaten but recently in games where it mattered, like Chelsea and Manchester United, we couldn't win and that, of course, needs thinking about.

"If you look at the average age of the team it is still very young and to reach the level we have deserves a lot of credit.

"But we were caught by a team that has an art to kill and take advantage of every mistake you make," said Wenger. (dpa)