Mertesacker: Arsenal played without courage

Per Mertesacker said Arsenal played without courage after their heavy 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern went ahead after just 10 minutes through Robert Lewandowski and, after Mesut Ozil's equaliser was ruled out for handball, Pep Guardiola's side scored three more goals before Olivier Giroud responded in the second half.

Thomas Muller wrapped up the comprehensive win for Bayern, but Mertesacker believes the early goal killed the game for the Gunners.

"They scored too early for us and then they got into their rhythm that was too difficult for us to go against," Mertesacker told BT Sport.

"We scored the equaliser - I heard that it was hand[ball] but that could have given us a bit more confidence, because we played without courage today. That is very disappointing from our point of view.

"Because they scored very early and got into their rhythm, we had nothing against it."

The defeat leaves Arenal needing to win their remaining two games and beat Olympiakos by at least two goals to advance from Group F into the last 16, but Mertesacker is defiant despite the defeat.

He added: "It's not over, and that's how we approach the situation now. That was difficult tonight but we will learn from it, bounce back quickly on Sunday, we need to switch on [and] put away negative energy and fight back."