Tomas Rosicky today claimed the volatile atmosphere at Emirates Stadium is hindering Arsenal.
Although the full extent of last night’s defeat will be unclear until the draw for the next phase of the Champions League is made on December 20, Arsenal will play the second leg away from home after qualifying as runners-up.
That may, however, be a blessing in disguise for them because fans have becoming increasingly vocal in their frustrations with the team at the Emirates after just six home wins from 11 matches this season.
The Gunners host West Brom on Saturday and Rosicky (above), who scored last night, said: “Obviously I can understand the frustration, I am an Arsenal fan as well when I wasn't playing.
"It is understandable sometimes but on the other side as well, you have to know we have some young guys and they can feel the frustration as well. That is definitely not helping them.
"We have to all stick together. It is the only thing that we can do - like we did last season when everybody was writing us off and we came back stronger.
"After the performances we produced, you can feel the great atmosphere that we had at the Emirates, particularly the great atmosphere that we had against Tottenham and AC Milan.
"I have been in professional football a long time and it was the best atmosphere I have ever played in. Of course, we have to win the people again. That's the challenge. As I said, we did it last year so why not do it again?"
