Arsène Wenger's side were beaten 3-1 by Bayern on Tuesday night at Emirates Stadium in the first leg of this last-16 tie.
Arsenal did well to wrestle back control of the game and Lukas Podolski reduced the deficit 10 minutes after the restart.
The home side pressed hard for an equaliser but the closest they came was when Olivier Giroud's drive bounced back off keeper Manuel Neuer.
The goal makes their task in Germany much more difficult in three weeks' time. But Arsenal must go to Bavaria with the belief that they can turn this tie around.
Laurent Koscielny recovered from a knock to return to central defence. That allowed Thomas Vermaelen to move out to left back as Nacho Monreal was cup-tied.
Theo Walcott was up front while Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere made for a combative trio in central midfield. Podolski and Santi Cazorla were on the flanks. Bacary Sagna returned at right back.
They arrived with a host of dazzling statistics to support the assertion that they were Europe's best team at the moment.
However Bayern's first real opportunity saw Muller whip in a cross from the right. It was inches away from the stretching Ramsey and Kross met the ball with a crisp finish from the edge of the area.
The genesis of the goal came from Franck Ribery's sumptuous pass from the left flank to the right which found Philipp Lahm in full flow.
His cross was blocked for a corner. Kross swung it to the near post where Daniel van Buyten rose above the Arsenal defence to power in a header.
Arsenal needed to shore up the game before they ventured forward and they rolled up their sleeves for the next quarter-hour.
In the 34th minute, Wilshere lofted a free-kick into the area and the ball eventually fell to Mertesacker, whose snap-shot was blocked.
Arsenal ended the half having built up a modicum of pressure on the Bayern goal. But they were nearly caught out in the final minute.
The tie was only a quarter gone and already seemed like a long way back but everyone with a red-and-white heart had to believe.
Wilshere's corner found a path through the Bayern area and enticed Neuer forward. However the keeper missed it, allowing Podolski to nod home the bouncing ball into an unguarded net.
The strike stung Bayern into greater offensive action. Kroos' climbing shot forced Szczesny to tip over at the near post and, from the corner, Javi Martinez nodded just inches over.
First through Podolski's low cross-shot and then, in the 73rd minute, Walcott's right-wing cross found Giroud, who had just come on.
It was the type of moment where Arsenal needed a dash of fortune. A point that was brought into sharp focus four minutes later by the manner of Bayern's third.
Substitute Arjen Robben fed Lahm down the right. His low cross was met by both Sagna and Mandzukic racing towards the far post.
Neither made a positive connection but the ball looped high and dropped into the net before the backtracking Szczesny could scoop it away.
It might have been worse shortly afterwards when Luiz Gustavo's deflected shot nearly wrong-footed Szczesny. The keeper saved and Mario Gomez planted the rebound over the bar.
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