Bellerin apologizes to the fans

Heading into the second leg of their Round of 16 encounter against Bayern Munich with a 5-1 deficit, Arsenal were not expected to mount a comeback but fans were hopeful that their side would be able to salvage some pride with a strong performance at home.

As it turned out though, Arsenal suffered another 5-1 hammering to lose the tie with a whopping score of 10-2 and following the embarrassment, Gunners’ right-back Hector Bellerin has gone on to deliver a public apology to the club’s faithful after the woeful displays put up by his side.

Bellerin said, "In the end of the day we play for them and we want them to be happy. We want them to be behind us and it hurts to see them leave so early. We need to make them happy for the rest of the season.

"We know we have the capacity and potential to do well, we've got the players and everything, we just need to think about every game the way we started today. If we play that kind of football then we can be up there. [We] say sorry to the fans because we need to do better than that."

Wenger slams scandalous refereeing 

Arsenal’s humiliation during the Champions League Round of 16 encounter against Bayern Munich was complete after they suffered another 5-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night to be knocked out of the competition with an embarrassing 10-2 aggregate score.

Despite suffering the heavy loss though, manager Arsene Wenger directed his anger at the referee Tasos Sidiropoulos rather than his own team following the game and the French boss branded the Greek official’s performance on the night as scandalous.

Wenger said, “It leaves me very angry, very frustrated and I think that at the moment, because we are in a difficult period also, but I think it’s absolutely unexplainable and scandalous that you can look what happened really that the guy behind the line [the additional assistant] gives the penalty, on top of that the red card.

“Personally, I would say we put Bayern really under pressure and we were unlucky tonight because it was a 100 per cent penalty in the first half on Walcott, check it on television, and in the second half the referee killed the game. After that, it was very difficult, but the referee I think was very, very powerful for Bayern tonight.

“It (Lewandowski’s goal) was not only not a penalty but he was offside, and on top of that he gives us a red card. That killed us completely. Overall I must say Bayern can be a good side, but tonight they can also say thank you to the decisions of the referee in the second half.”

Middlesbrough star on Arsenal’s radar

Arsenal have clearly been plagued by a number of issues this season and their lack of depth in the centre back positions is most certainly a major concern.

As a result, Arsenal are likely to bring in a new defender next summer and the Northern Echo have revealed that the North London giants are currently eyeing up a swoop for Middlesbrough star Ben Gibson.

Gibson has impressed at the heart of the defence for a struggling Middlesbrough side this season and it is believed that Arsenal, along with the likes of Manchester City, Everton and Chelsea, are all monitoring the 24-year-old at the moment.