Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic has declared himself "proud" of his players following their narrow defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

The Gunners survived a real scare at the Emirates Stadium last night to progress through to the Champions League group stage for the 17th season in succession.

Alexis Sanchez's goal separated the two sides following a goalless first leg, but the Turkish outfit piled the pressure on their opponents late on.

"We are disappointed on one hand but also so proud," Bilic is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "My team gave Arsenal 180 very open minutes.

"We didn't give up and in the last 10-15 minutes we were very exciting and they were on the ropes. Not many teams have done that to Arsenal on their home ground.

"They showed a little bit of extra quality in the box. We are very, very gutted because we were so close to going through - we are going to come out of this very positive and go in the Europa League."

The Champions League group stage draw is made later today.