Arsenal would likely have had high hopes travelling to Bayern Munich after their 2-0 win in the reverse fixture a fortnight ago. Those hopes were emphatically extinguished in 45 minutes at the Allianz Arena.
David Alaba capped a truly miserable first period for the Gunners when he robbed Santi Cazorla inside his own half and thrashed this long-range stunner past Petr Cech to put Bayern 3-0 up at the break.
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Cazorla has largely been a revelation since being dropped into a deeper role by Arsene Wenger, but this type of mistake highlights that the Spaniard lacks the defensive awareness of a genuine midfielder.
Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller goals inside the opening half an hour had knocked the visitors firmly on the back foot, before Alaba surely put the game beyond them with still a half left to play.
SEE MORE: (Video) Soft Lewandowski goal shows Arsenal’s defence is vulnerable without Koscielny
Arsenal may argue that the picture at the interval could have looked very different had Mesut Ozil not seen his immediate reply to Lewandowski’s 10th-minute opener wrong disallowed for handball.
This inevitable defeat would leave the Premier League side with only three points from four Group F games, although a silver lining is that second-place Olympiacos are currently losing to Dinamo Zagreb.
Half-time: Bayern Munich 3-0 Arsenal
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