Thursday 16 February 2017 14:16, UK
Laurent Koscielny has opened up on why Arsenal fell apart in the second half in the 5-1 demolition at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The Gunners lost the French defender to injury soon after the interval with the scores level, only for the German side to rip into the visitors and score three times in 10 minutes.
Not only does the result leave Arsenal staring at a seventh straight exit from Europe's premier competition at the knock-out stage, it has also seen a clamour for Arsene Wenger to leave when his contract expires in the summer.
The French manager said the game was a "nightmare", while Koscielny's assessment was similarly damning.
Asked what went wrong, Koscielny told Arsenal TV: "I don't know either. I think the first half was good - we were deep, like you need to be, and tried not to give them space or opportunities to score.
"It being 1-1 at half-time was good for us but after we conceded the second goal, I think we needed to stay more compact because we have a second leg at home, when you can win.
"You need to stay together, defend together with all 11 players and keep this. We didn't. Bayern played very well - they have some top-class players who can make the difference up front."
Despite the second-half capitulation, Koscielny insists Arsenal will fight to overturn the chasm in the home leg, but they would have to become the first team in the history of the Champions League to come back from a four-goal deficit and advance.
"In football, you never know," he added.
"We are professional, we have a second leg and we will try to win. But after a game like this it's very difficult. But we'll fight because we are professional and we play for Arsenal."
