Bayern Munich steamrolls Arsenal, puts dent in Gunners' hopes of advancing

Arsenal's hopes of advancing out of the group stage took a massive hit following Wednesday's demoralising 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

The match was virtually over after the opening 45 minutes when goals from Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, and David Alaba gave the hosts an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Despite Bayern's opening goal inside the first 10 minutes to dampen the English side's spirits, the away support was up on its feet when an inspiring Arsenal surge finished with the ball in the back of the net. However, it wasn't meant to be as Mesut Ozil was judged to have used his arm to put the ball past Manuel Neuer.

The Bundesliga side added a two more goals in the second half to secure top spot in the group, with a place in the Round of 16 all but guaranteed. Meanwhile, in order to keep the possibility of advancing alive, Arsenal can't afford to lose in either of its final two matches against Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb.

Bayern's suffocating attack too much for Arsenal

A loss in England obviously inspired Bayern to inflict the type of pain Arsenal has never experienced in the Champions League.

The home side began the match with an aggressiveness Bundesliga opponents are all too familiar with as Bayern found a way past Petr Cech 10 minutes in with a clinical finish from Lewandowski, who managed to get on the end of Thiago Alcantara's clever chip into the box.

A glimmer of hope for Arsenal quickly faded thanks to a handball ruling and was ultimately extinguished when Muller's close-range shot took a kind deflection off Per Mertesacker and tucked inside the near post to double the lead.

Bayern didn't appear to be willing to settle for the two goals, with Alaba's beautiful strike before halftime putting the game out of reach. Goals from Arjen Robben and Muller eventually nudged Arsenal closer to an appearance in the Europa League.

Arsenal needs to finish strong, and hope for help

Simply winning its final two games likely isn't enough to see Arsenal pull off the improbable.

Three losses through four matches leaves the Premier League team in a position where it needs help from others to keep its slim chances alive. Furthermore, Arsenal can't afford to scrape by opponents with narrow wins.

The biggest obstacle will be an away fixture in Greece in the final match of the group stage when Arsenal attempts to exact revenge on Olympiacos. Making the task more difficult is that Arsenal might even have to win the fixture by two or more goals.

An embarrassing 3-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium to Olympiacos, coupled with a 2-1 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in Serbia, will force Arsene Wenger's men to be on top of their game in order to avoid elimination from the group stage for the first time in over 15 years.

A day of milestones for both winners and losers

Bayern's dominant win was a day that included a handful of records - good and bad.

Muller's first goal of the match saw the gifted forward move past Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for second place on the all-time scoring leaders list at Bayern. His 32 goals, though, doesn't mean Muller's close to the record as he trails Gerd Muller's incredible record of 69 goals.

As for Arsenal, the loss was made worse by a couple of forgettable records.

Cech also set a new personal low by allowing five goals in a Champions League match.