Arsenal’s defenders looked in vain for a flag and everyone else looked in vain for something resembling marking. The game was only 11 minutes old, Arsenal’s makeshift back four had granted the most lethal striker in Europe the freedom of the area and Robert Lewandowski ended his miserable two‑game drought by scoring his 24th goal of the season.
Bayern were in a remorseless mood, on a mission to avenge that 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium, and this was a bad moment for Arsène Wenger’s side to be without several key players for a game that had the potential to define their immediate future in the Champions League.
This 5-1 thrashing, Arsenal’s heaviest ever defeat in Europe, leaves them in a parlous state at the bottom of Group F. They are six points behind Olympiakos, who snatched a crucial late victory against Dinamo Zagreb, and Arsenal will need a better head-to-head record over the Greeks in order to go through. They visit Olympiakos in their final game, having lost 3-2 to them in September.
There will have to be a defensive improvement and Arsenal need their injuries to clear up. Their right flank was decimated by injuries to Héctor Bellerín, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott, while there was a sharp intake of breath when it emerged that Laurent Koscielny was only on the bench because of a hip problem.
Gabriel Paulista started instead of Koscielny and lost Lewandowski for the opener, while Bellerín’s absence offered us a rare glimpse of Mathieu Debuchy at right-back. Well, there you go. That’s what it looks like and it was not long before Arsenal’s supporters were watching through their fingers.
It was a chastening night for poor old Debuchy, not that he was the only player who was a shivering wreck by the time further goals from Thomas Müller and the outstanding David Alaba had given Pep Guardiola’s side a 3-0 lead at half‑time, and Bayern mercilessly targeted Arsenal’s fragile right side. Kingsley Coman and Alaba tortured Debuchy. In his defence, he was offered little protection by Joel Campbell, who was hauled off in the 59th minute, and it would be remiss not to emphasise Bayern’s brilliance.
As Guardiola predicted, their pressing eventually forced Arsenal into hitting long balls towards Olivier Giroud as the first half wore on. It was difficult to know how much Wenger could have done differently. Arsenal’s squad was stretched and they had two unheralded youngsters on the bench, Alex Iwobi and Jeff Reine-Adelaide.
Could Wenger have started Mathieu Flamini instead of Campbell? It was a tactic that worked for Manuel Pellegrini against Sevilla on Tuesday night, the Manchester City manager’s decision to favour the muscle of Fernando over Kevin De Bruyne’s creativity working to devastating effect. Yet Flamini’s mobility has diminished with age.
Here, then, was a performance that furthered the argument that Wenger erred by not signing a tough midfielder in the Morgan Schneiderlin mould in the summer, while a justifiable criticism was that Arsenal could have parked the bus in a better position during the first 20 minutes. Yet the gulf in glass was encapsulated by Arjen Robben scoring the fourth goal 38 seconds after coming off the bench.
