Arsenal 3, AC Milan 0

Robin Van Persie

ARSENE WENGER saw his Arsenal braves go within a whisker of an historic Champions League fightback — and then allegedly fired an F-word assault at the ref.

The Gunners boss was accused of clashing with Damir Skomina after his side nearly clawed back a four-goal deficit against AC Milan.

Slovenian Skomina down the tunnel and called him a 'f***ing disgrace' for the way he handled the game.

It is understood that Skomina intends including the confrontation in his official report, which could land Wenger in hot water with UEFA.

Skomina gave Milan 21 fouls to Arsenal's eight, as the Italians scrambled into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2007.

And Wenger rapped: "I was not happy with the referee. I felt he gave many free-kicks in the middle of the park.

"Every time they went down, a free-kick was given for them. They sensed that very quickly and used it very well."

Wenger, though, told his players to be 'proud' as their latest European dream died gloriously.

No team has hauled back a four-goal Champions League deficit since the tournament started in 1992.

Wenger declared: "We gave it our all. I am disappointed and yet we gave a good performance and touched qualification. We had the chances.

"We suffered physically in the second half. We had given a lot at Liverpool. I felt we were a bit short as we had no midfielders on the bench and we suffered a little bit when we got tired.

"The players put in a faultless performance, with fantastic spirit, and you can only congratulate the whole team. They can be proud of themselves.

"We keep our winning run going and that is important. We paid the price for the first leg."