Hector Bellerin has apologised for Tuesday’s second-half performance against Bayern Munich.
The Spain right back was in fine attacking form during a positive first 45 minutes at Emirates Stadium, but could only watch as Laurent Koscielny was sent off after the break and the Bundesliga side hit five goals in 30 minutes.
- 'We showed that we can compete'
- 'The red card killed us completely'
- Find out what Theo had to say after the final whistle
- Read the match report from Emirates Stadium
Bellerin faced the media after the game, and this is what he had to say:
on a punishing night…
We’re really hurt about the result and how it went. The team gave everything, especially in the first half. We never gave up and we knew it was going to be really hard, but the team went for it from the first minute. After the penalty, things just went downhill. We knew it was very hard for us to come back after that, and we just need to look at ourselves, learn from this situation and focus on Saturday. We have another game, another competition which we know we can do well in and we need to prepare for it.
on conceding five goals…
It’s hard in those situations. In 30 minutes you have to score six goals if you want to come back, and it’s hard for everyone on the pitch to go for it. When you have these situations, you have to try not to concede but still try to score. There’s a lot of pride and you don’t want to lose games like this. With the decisions of the referee, which I don’t want to get involved in, sometimes things don’t go your way. There were a lot of positives, especially in the first half. Even though it’s hard to take, we just need to learn from it.
on how the dressing room mood is…
I’m really hurt because to see the fans leave the stadium so early… At the end of the day we play for them, want them to be happy, to be behind us, and it hurts to see them leave so early. We just need to try to make them happy with the rest of our season. We know we’ve got the players and the potential to do well, we just need to play every game the same way that we started today. If we play that kind of football, we can be up there. We have to say sorry to the fans because we want to do better than that.
on whether it was a penalty or a red card…
I don’t think it’s good for me to get involved in this conversation. The referees are doing their jobs. Sometimes they’re going to get it wrong, sometimes they get it right. It’s true that it affected a lot of our game because we started the game really well by going 1-0 up in the first half. The team believed that we could make it. After the red card and penalty, it went downhill and we knew we would have to score five or six goals to make it through to the next round.
on how we can improve our Champions League record…
The team have demonstrated that we can play good football, so I think we just need to be consistent. We need to start every game the same way we started this game by trying to play through the lines and creating encouraging situations. We just need to be more consistent and more efficient, but we have to take a lot of positives from tonight. There were lots of them, especially in the first half. We have to take them on board and hopefully finish the season well.
on whether Arsene Wenger is under more pressure now…
The whole team is behind the manager. He’s the one who has made the team work. In football, sometimes you’re high and sometimes you experience lows. Now is a low point for us but we only have to look at ourselves to do something. With the help of everyone, we can make it through. We need to just forget tonight, focus on the next game and a competition that the club usually does well in. We just need to go for it and try to finish the season well.
on whether he wants the boss to be here next season…
Of course. It’s as simple as that, especially for me. He’s the one who gave me my chance since day one. He’s played a big part in making me the player that I am, and there are loads of players in the dressing room who will be in the same position as me. We all back him and of course we want him to stay.
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