ARSENE Wenger hailed the presence of three Premiership clubs in the Champions League quarter-finals as a major step forward for English football as Arsenal followed in the footsteps of Manchester United and Leeds.

However, even though the Arsenal boss declared that all three teams could make further progress, he admitted the misfiring Gunners had been fortunate to secure their own place in the last eight.

Having lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich, Arsenal had a nerve-wracking four-minute wait to find out the final score in Russia, where group rivals Lyon, who had to win to oust them, could only draw 1-1 against Spartak Moscow.

Wenger admitted: ''I just knew it was 1-1 in Moscow. When we finished, there were still four minutes left for them to play. It was like 90 minutes for me.

''I know what can happen at the end of games as teams throw everything forward to try to score. At any moment I could have expected bad news and that would have been very disappointing.''

As it was, even though Arsenal were comprehensively outplayed by Bayern, who topped the group, they went through by virtue of their results against Lyon.

Bayern could now meet either Manchester United, who defeated them in the 1999 final, Leeds or Galatasaray in the quarter-finals.

Arsenal's three possible opponents are all Spanish - holders Real Madrid, last season's runners-up Valencia and Spanish champions Deportivo la Coruna who could also face either of the Uniteds.

''It means that English football has taken a huge step forward in the past three years as only Manchester United were in the quarter-finals then,'' observed Wenger.

''Now there are three English clubs there and none from Italy.

''There is a chance for all three English clubs to go through now. The likes of Barcelona, Lazio and AC Milan have gone out so many big teams are missing.''

Wenger added: ''That is the second year running that three Spanish clubs have gone through. It is no coincidence and shows they have the best clubs in Europe.''

This was therefore an historic achievement, even if the Gunners tamely succumbed to the German champions on the night, with striker Giovane Elber scoring the winner after just 10 minutes.

''The dressing room was very quiet after the game as we did not feel we had performed very well,'' said Wenger.

''Physically we looked very tired. Maybe also it was down to a psychological problem and we started off a bit scared.

''We didn't see the real Arsenal. Maybe there was too much pressure, maybe it was fatigue. It's difficult to explain.

''Every game is different though and not many teams have won here. But we are in the quarter-finals so we must have some qualities as well.''

Reports in Germany have, meanwhile, stated that Arsenal are on the verge of signing defender Marko Rehmer from Hertha Berlin for around £5m.

Wenger admitted: ''We do have an interest but nothing has been done.'