“Look, we’ll have two battles, but maybe the easier battle will be to get back in the Champions League,” said Wenger after goals from Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Mario Mandzukic shattered his team’s hopes in this last-16 first leg.
Arsenal were demolished 3-1 by Bayern Munich. The quality which the German’s possessed was for everyone to see.
“But let’s not hide the truth – it will be extremely difficult against a team of that quality.
“They didn’t play two finals in the last three years without that quality.”
Wenger admitted he feared his men could have been handed their biggest home defeat in the Champions League, worse than the 3-0 battering by Inter Milan in 2003.
“It looked like we might come back to 2-2, but unfortunately conceded another goal,” he added.
“The 3-1 was a big blow for the team. From that moment on, you could see we might concede one more because we didn’t keep our structure.
“The last 10 minutes were difficult. As much as 2-1 possibly becoming 2-2, at 3-1 it looked like we might concede another.
“Bayern have a history in the last six months where everything is positive, every player is confident to play with full power.
“That’s not the same for us at the moment. We were a bit nervous. Results bring that. It’s a bit of a vicious circle.
“The quality of my players is there, but they’re not getting their rewards.
Chances “We’re not being rewarded for our efforts. I still have confidence in my players and in my team.
“But, on tonight’s evidence, there’s clearly work to be done.”
The size of Arsenal’s task was outlined by Heynckes, who said: “This season, it has been very difficult to play against us.
“You can tell by our position in the league. In 23 games we have conceded just seven goals. That’s amazing. So it’s very difficult to score against us.
“Also, my team are always in a position to score at least one or two goals ourselves, so we do have great chances to progress to the next round.”
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