5 Truths: Same old Arsenal, Arjen Robben and Karim Benzema shine, Laurent Koscielny injury huge blow

It's been a case of Groundhog Day for Arsenal fans for many years now. Not only do they endure the annual drop away in the Premier League title race, they have also grown accustomed to taking a drubbing from a European heavyweight and exiting the Champions League at this stage.

For many of his critics, Arsene Wenger is the common denominator in all of it and this result could well be the final nail in his managerial coffin. It's sad for man who has done so much for the Gunners, but it seems that a change now looks inevitable ahead of next season.

Arsenal fans were quick to bemoan their lack of pressure when Arjen Robben was able to do what he does best: cut inside from the right and unerringly pick out the far corner of the net. While the Arsenal players could doubtless have done better in preventing the Bayern opener, it is important to recognise just how unstoppable the Dutchman can be when he goes for his favourite trick.

When Robben zips inside at pace and swiftly fires away his shot, there is very little that can be done from the opposition to prevent a goal from being scored. After all, the forward would not have 124 goals in 238 games for the Bavarian giants if he was not so difficult to defend against. A class act, Robben does what he does to such a high standard that sometimes he just has to be appreciated.

Whenever Real Madrid are mentioned, Cristiano Ronaldo understandably gets the lion's share of the credit for the team's attacking potency, but Karim Benzema again demonstrated against Napoli why he is such a valuable and effective weapon for Zinedine Zidane's side. The Frenchman clinched a record as he pounced to score against the Italian side and the surprise from fans demonstrated just how underrated he can be.

In scoring against Napoli, Benzema surpassed Arsenal and Barcelona legend Thierry Henry in scoring his 51st Champions League goal - more than any other French player in history. We are all very used to hearing about Champions League records being broken with Lionel Messi and Ronaldo around, but Benzema rarely gets the recognition he deserves. In reaching such an impressive tally, he has served to remind everyone yet again of his immense quality.

There are no epochal sides in Europe at the moment, but there are several very good ones. It is very hard to pick a winner out of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, even if some of those sides are more reliable than others.

It will, though, take a serious midfield performance from any side to avoid being dominated by the astute passing, movement and first touches of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos which, allied to the penetration of Cristiano Ronaldo and pals, makes Madrid favourites in all aspects but law of averages: they probably won’t wind up with the trophy because no side has yet retained it. But otherwise, they look very strong indeed, and either way, it is going to be a pleasure to watch what happens next.

The importance of Laurent Koscielny to this Arsenal team can hardly be overstated, such is his influence at the back for Wenger's men. The sight of the Frenchman hobbling off after stretching to intercept a loose ball was a very concerning one for Wenger and all Arsenal fans and quickly overshadowed the second half against Bayern.

For all Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil's quality in attacking areas, Koscielny has been a crucial component of the Arsenal back four for a few seasons and the way Bayern immediately carved open the defence following his injury made it abundantly clear just how important he is. Within three minutes of Gabriel replacing Koscielny, Bayern had scored and another three minutes later they made it three. Wenger will have to pray that his defensive leader can return without too long a lay-off, or Arsenal's domestic hopes could suffer very badly too.