Arsene Wenger Says Arsenal 'Collapsed' in 5-1 Champions League Defeat to Bayern

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his side "mentally collapsed" as they were thrashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena.

The Frenchman saw his side go in level 1-1 at the break before conceding four goals in the second half following the withdrawal of captain Laurent Koscielny through injury.

Wenger believed his side were a little unfortunate to be thrashed quite so convincingly, but he conceded Bayern's superiority and bemoaned his side's mental strength, per BT Sport (via ESPN FC):

"

I think the most important in the second half [was] we lost Koscielny very quickly. And suddenly it looked like we collapsed. Mentally, we collapsed, and overall I must say they are a better team than us as well. They played very well in the second half and we dropped our level. And we were a bit unlucky as well, but overall, well done Bayern. They were better than us.

"

Arsenal now look likely to crash out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the seventh consecutive season.

They were in the game at half-time after Alexis Sanchez cancelled out Arjen Robben's brilliant opener and claimed an often-crucial away goal.

However, following Koscielny's departure in the 49th minute, Robert Lewandowski netted, Thiago Alcantara scored twice and substitute Thomas Muller fired home a late fifth, per BT Sport Football:

Arsenal suffered the same fate—a 5-1 defeat—when they faced Bayern in Munich in the group stage of last season's Champions League, and they have previously fallen to the Germans in the last 16 in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Despite Wenger's claims Arsenal were a "bit unlucky," it could have been a lot worse, as Robben had an effort cleared off the line by Kieran Gibbs, and goalkeeper David Ospina made fine saves from Javi Martinez, Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa.

With Arsenal fourth in the Premier League and 10 points back from leaders Chelsea, the Gunners look destined for another disappointing season, with the FA Cup remaining as their only realistic chance of silverware.

Wenger is now arguably under more pressure in his job than he has ever been in his 20-year tenure, with The Times' Henry Winter offering a damning assessment of the situation following Wednesday's defeat:

Arsenal will need a miracle if they are to turn the tie around in the second leg and make the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010.

Meanwhile, far from looking to the top of the Premier League table, Arsenal are in danger of dropping out of the top four, with fifth-placed Liverpool just a point behind them and sixth-placed Manchester United only two back.

Wenger has often been saved by his consistent ability to get Arsenal into the Champions League and, with his position now seriously under threat, a failure to meet even that minimum requirement in 2016-17 would surely see him replaced.