Arsenal suffered yet another decisive blow to a campaign they would want to put behind them as soon as possible, with Bayern Munich piling on the misery in their Champions League clash Tuesday.
Goals from Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Mario Mandzukic consigned the Gunners to a 3-1 defeat in the first leg of the last 16, leaving the home side with a mountain the size of two Mount Everests to climb when they go for the second leg in Germany.
Arsene Wenger was as usual defiant in his belief that his side stands a chance, albeit a slim one, while choosing not to blame his players for the defeat.
"We had a good start in the first five minutes," Wenger, hose side had plenty of possession but little to no efforts on goal, said. "They scored with their first shot on goal and after that we were a bit nervous defensively. We played against a team with a lot of class, at points in the first half they played better than us.
"In the second half we came back, got it to 2-1 and had the chance to make it 2-2, but again we got caught on the counter-attack. Bayern are a very efficient team, they make the most of the chances they create and congratulations to them.
"It will be very difficult but let's try to make the impossible possible. We must go there and try to play like we do at home. The third goal makes it very difficult, but we will try of course.
"Our fans were fantastic tonight and I'm very disappointed we couldn't give them the win they wanted. It was not the best preparation mentally (after the weekend F.A. Cup defeat to Championship side Blackburn), but the players battled very hard and gave absolutely everything.
"The third goal was a mental blow because we gave a lot to try to get back to two-all, but at this level it's very difficult if you're 2-0 down."
Arsenal now face a very real prospect of missing out on the Champions League altogether next season - which will be the first time under Wenger -- with their hopes in the competition hanging by a thread, and Tottenham currently four points clear in the Premier League standings.
"Look, we'll have two battles, but maybe the easier battle will be to be back in the Champions League," Wenger added. "But we have to give everything to try and change things in the second leg.
"It's happened to us before, to be 2-0 down. That's one of the positive things that happened before. We changed and reversed things (in the past), so we have examples of moments when we've come back to 2-2."
Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes, who will make way for Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, was quite happy with his team's performance.
"Beating an English team 3-1 in England constitutes a big success," he said. "FC Bayern's history shows that they have had difficulties here in the past.
"We had a great start to the game and gave an excellent display, especially in the first half, but you could also see that Arsenal are a good side and that we had to roll up our sleeves and work hard."
