Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim felt his team were worthy of advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals after holding off Arsenal on away goals in Tuesday's second leg.
Jardim's side had been viewed as one of the weaker seeds for the knock-out stages despite their formidable defensive record, but went through 3-3 on aggregate despite losing 2-0 on the night.
"I think it is deserved the qualification, we managed to take advantage of the first leg when we won 3-1," he said.
"The second leg was the match that we expected. It was very intense, the opponents took advantage of the mistakes we made in the transition, which is how they scored their goals."
Jardim was snubbed for a handshake from Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after the tie at the Emirates and returned the favour on Tuesday, heading off down the tunnel rather than exchange post-match pleasantries.
"In the first leg, when I wanted to shake his hand, he did not thank me, so this time even though Arsenal did everything possible to go through, I chose not to thank him," the Portuguese coach said.
"I think so [that was disrespectful] and right now we are celebrating and think that Arsenal may be did not show all the respect that they should have during the first leg."
Information from Press Association was used in this report.