Arsene Wenger: Bayern Munich defeat "difficult to explain"

Arsenal got beaten 5-1 by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-sixteen clash. The result leaves little to no hope for the Gunners to reach the quarter-finals as it is highly unlikely that they can beat Bayern 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the second leg. Arsenal had a good 1-1 draw to defend at half time, but they crumbled in the second half after central defender Laurent Koscielny picked up an injury and was replaced by Gabriel Paulista. "It's difficult to explain," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after the match. "Just before half-time we had two good chances to score. We came back and played well. In the second half we lost Koscielny very quickly - he came off at 1-1 - and finally we collapsed. Bayern are a better team than us as well. The third goal was a killer for our players because after that we had no response. The real problems were after the third goal. We lost our organisation and we looked mentally jaded and vulnerable from that moment onwards. The last 25 minutes was a nightmare for us." Bayern Munich dominated the game in the first half as well, they had 74% ball possession before the break, but Arsenal seemed capable of producing threatening counter-attacks. The Gunners were almost non-existent in the second half, they didn't manage to get a single shot on goal after the break and had just one attempt off target. The result marks another disappointing Champions League campaign for Arsenal and also fuels the speculation about Arsene Wenger's future at the club as his critics call for a new manager to be appointed. You can bet on who will be the next Arsenal manager at SkyBet, here are the odds for the top contenders: Massimiliano Allegri - 4/1 Eddie Howe - 5/1 Thomas Tuchel - 8/1 Patrick Vieira - 12/1 Joachim Low - 16/1