"People forget how young they are but they're growing with each game. Which other club in the Premier League could name a side with five players younger than 21 and still get a 3-0 win?"
This was a reference to their convincing victory over Portsmouth, but Bayern Munich was an altogether different story.
Four-time winners of Europe's premier prize, they are one of the most experienced teams in the Champions League and defended their 3-1 lead from the first leg with the guile, energy and craft of potential finalists. This is what separated them from Arsenal. For all their industry, Wenger's youngsters were betrayed by a collective lack of experience at this exalted level of the game.
The Germans provided a master class in denying time and space, and Arsenal's kids were bemused and frustrated by their inability to build and sustain any attacking momentum.
Perhaps the heaviest burden fell on Phillipe Senderos, the 20-year-old centre-half making his first Champions League start. The heart of the defence has provided Wenger with an on-going headache this season because Sol Campbell has missed 25 first-team games because of injury.
Wenger needed a big performance from the Swiss and got it. A pillar of strength alongside the uncertain Toure, he made just one mistake late on with a lame back pass that required rapid intervention by Jens Lehmann.
After seven premature exits from the Champions League, Wenger must now hope his youngsters maintain their early promise and one day provide the hard core of a team capable of going all the way in Europe.
In the meantime, he has to rely on them to keep Arsenal's season alive in the FA Cup at Bolton on Saturday.
