Looking just crestfallen rather than angry, despite the capitulation of his players, the Arsenal manager admitted they collapsed after the third Bayern goal and looked like they “had no response”.

Arsene Wenger refused to be drawn on whether this was the lowest moment of his reign, but admitted it was a “shock”.

“It was a strange game,” Wenger began. “First half we played well. Two good chances before half-time and after we got a few blows, the first to lose [Laurent] Koscielny – after we conceded two goals, 53, 56. Third goal we got badly done, two balls on the pitch. The real problems were after the third goal. We lost our organisation and we looked mentally jaded and vulnerable from that moment onwards. Last 25 minutes was a nightmare for us. We looked like we had no response.”

Koscielny had to go off just after half-time with an injury, and Arsenal seemed to lose all defensive stability thereafter. Asked whether that should have had such a ruinous effect despite the misfortune, Wenger merely re-iterated his disappointment.

“If you asked if I would have loved to keep Laurent Koscielny on the pitch, I would have said yes. After that it’s difficult to measure the real impact. No matter what we say now, it will be turned in a way that’s detrimental to us because we had a very negative result tonight.

“Two goals was difficult to swallow – 53 and 56. We have to analyse that. It looked like we lost our organisation. Not only did we lose our centre-back, but a combination of mental and organisation. Before that, we controlled them quite well.”

Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Manuel Neuer – 6 out of 10 Lucky not to be punished when he spilled Ozil’s first-half free-kick. Got down well to Sanchez’s penalty, perhaps should have stopped the rebound. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Philip Lahm – 7 out of 10 Weighted the cross for Lewandowski’s goal perfectly. Will miss the second leg after picking up a booking. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Javi Martinez – 7 out of 10 Looked uneasy when Arsenal’s forwards could run at him before the break, but was protected by his team’s dominance of possession afterwards. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Mats Hummels – 8 out of 10 Assured at the centre of Bayern’s defence, but in truth was rarely troubled. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings David Alaba – 7 out of 10 Took a while to ease himself into the game but won his battle with Bellerin decisively. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Xabi Alonso – 7 out of 10 Failed to exert his usual influence in the first half, and should have done better to stop Sanchez’s effort, but was instrumental once Bayern started to move through the gears. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Arturo Vidal – 6 out of 10 A quieter influence on the game than his Bayern team-mates, but had little to contend with in the middle of the park. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Arjen Robben – 9 out of 10 His simply stunning strike in the opening exchanges set the tone for the evening. A reminder why he has been one of the continent’s best over the past decade. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Thiago – 8 out of 10 An excellent display was capped off with two sweet goals. Eased the ball past Ospina for Bayern’s third, slightly fortunate for his second. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Douglas Costa – 5 out of 10 Bayern’s only real disappointment of the night, he failed to fizz and crackle like the rest of their forward talents. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Robert Lewandowski – 8 out of 10 Somewhat unlucky to concede the penalty, but atoned with a magnificent header to put his side back in front. His assist for Thiago was even better. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings David Ospina – 6 out of 10 Improved after a nervy start, and despite conceding five, stopped Bayern on several occasions. Produced one brilliant save to deny Martinez. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Hector Bellerin – 4 out of 10 Still looking bang out-of-sorts, the young Spaniard offered none of the invention and threat we have come to expect. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Shkodran Mustafi – 5 out of 10 No contest for Lewandowski, who used him as a climbing frame for Bayern’s second. Looked more comfortable with Koscielny as a partner. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Laurent Koscielny - 7 out of 10 Looked excellent early on and did well to win the penalty. His departure through injury at the start of the second half was the harbinger of Arsenal’s collapse. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Kieran Gibbs – 4 out of 10 Left-back continues to prove a problem area for Arsenal. Robben had it all his own way. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Francis Coquelin – 4 out of 10 Elected to stand off Robben rather than get tight, allowing the opening goal to fly past him. Recovered, but utterly over-ran by Bayern’s midfield after the break. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Granit Xhaka – 5 out of 10 Forced Neuer into action with a well-taken first-time shot from the edge of the box in the first half. It was his only real moment of note. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Alex Iwobi – 4 out of 10 A quiet night for the youngster. Substituted after Bayern’s fourth goal, replaced by Theo Walcott. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Mesut Ozil – 5 out of 10 Missing in action, once again. Could have punished Bayern when he broke in behind in the closing stages of the first half but ran down a blind alley. Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 4 out of 10 Failed to justify his surprise selection on the left-flank, rarely troubling Lahm. Getty Bayern 5 Arsenal 1 player ratings Alexis Sanchez – 7 out of 10 Kept running into brick walls until the penalty. His initial effort was poor but showed composure to guide the ball home at the third time of asking.

It was at that point, after less than three minutes, that Arsenal’s communications director ended the press conference. Wenger had been asked on TV, however, whether this was his lowest moment.

"How I feel I don't think is the most important but of course it is disappointing.”

It said much, in fact, that he wasn’t even countenancing the idea of a miracle comeback and was instead merely talking about the need “to recover first”.

"It is difficult to explain. I felt we had two good chances to score just before half time. I felt we were unlucky for the second goal the referee gave a corner for us at first. Then we concede the second goal and then the most important was that we lost Koscielny. We collapsed.

"Overall I must say they are a better team than us, they played very well in the second half and we dropped our level. We were a bit unlucky we dropped our level and they were better than us."

I do not look for excuses. It is a shock of course to lose at that level. We made everything wrong, the fifth goal shows that.