For an hour Arsenal were at least salvaging some pride against Bayern Munich, then the ceiling came crashing down as they exited the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday with a matching pair of 5-1 defeats against the merciless Bundesliga giants.
A second-half capitulation after captain Laurent Koscielny was sent off resulted in Arsenal conceding five goals for the first time at their Emirates Stadium as they suffered their worst home defeat for 19 years.
Arsenal were attempting an unlikely comeback after their horror show in Munich last month and were making a decent fist of it when Theo Walcott smashed in after 20 minutes.
But from the moment Koscielny was red-carded and Lewandowski converted the resulting penalty in the 55th minute, Arsenal's belief ebbed and Carlo Ancelotti's side ran amok with Arjen Robben, Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal piling on the agony.
By the end Bayern were threatening to surpass the 12-1 aggregate score they piled up against Sporting Lisbon in 2009 but had to be content with a 10-2 margin that sent an ominous warning to whoever they face in the quarter-finals.
Before kickoff some Arsenal fans staged a small protest calling for manager Arsene Wenger to end his 21-year reign at the club.
Those calls will grow louder now after a seventh successive exit at the last-16 stage of the Champions League.
Yet Wenger was belligerent afterwards, blaming referee Tasos Sidiropoulos for killing off his side with the sending off of skipper Koscielny, whose injury shortly after halftime in Munich prompted a similar Gunners collapse.
"I felt that we produced a performance with spirit and pride that we wanted and after that the story finished badly," Wenger told reporters. "The fact the end result will not highlight the quality of our performance is very disappointing."
Ancelotti, bidding to win the Champions League with a third club after triumphs with AC Milan and Real Madrid, had some sympathy for his under-fire former Premier League adversary.
"Until the penalty it was a difficult game and Arsenal played very well," he said. "It was a strange game. The result doesn't reflect what happened on the pitch."
With Alexis Sanchez restored to the starting lineup after being dropped by Wenger against Liverpool there was a verve about Arsenal in the first half.
When Walcott thumped a shot past Manuel Neuer from a tight angle and had a penalty appeal turned down after appearing to be tripped by Xabi Alonso, Bayern were rattled.
Walcott hit the side-netting with another blast and Olivier Giroud headed against the post before the Frenchman headed an even better chance wastefully over just after halftime.
Then it all went horribly wrong for the hosts.
Lewandowski was shoved by Koscielny as he ran through in the 55th minute and Sidiropoulos, who had initially only shown a yellow to the defender, reached for his red card. Lewandowski sent David Ospina the wrong way from the spot.
Robben then capitalised on a mistake by Sanchez to run through and put Bayern ahead before substitute Douglas Costa curled in a stunning third in the 78th minute.
If it had been a boxing match the towel would have been thrown in but there was no hiding place and Vidal struck two late goals, both from close-range as the home defence went AWOL, to the unbridled glee of Bayern's sizeable support.
Reuters
Tue Mar 07 2017
Arsenal's Granit Xhaka looks dejected after the game - REUTERS / Stefan Wermuth Livepi
Piala Uber: Tuan rumah China bertemu Indonesia pada final
Tuan rumah China akan bertemu Indonesia bagi menentukan Juara Piala Uber selepas menewaskan Jepun 3-0.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: 17 NGO India umum sokong calon PH
Sebanyak 17 badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang mewakili kaum India di Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) menyatakan sokongan kepada calon Pakatan Harapan (PH) Pang Sock Tao.
Selesai di Kedah, PM meriahkan pula Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri di Pulau Pinang
Sejurus selesai Majlis Sambutan Aidilfitri MADANI peringkat Kedah di Jitra, Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim terus bergegas ke Pulau Pinang bagi menghadiri Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri Persatuan K
Berbeza pandangan bukan penghalang perkukuh kerjasama kerajaan negeri, Persekutuan - PM
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berharap perbezaan pandangan tidak menjadi penghalang dalam usaha untuk terus memperkukuh kerjasama antara Kerajaan Persekutuan dan Kerajaan Negeri Kedah demi
Nurul Izzah terus cemerlang, Muhammad Ridwan kalahkan abang
Nurul Izzah tidak berdepan masalah untuk mengungguli saingan final dengan mengetepikan cabaran dua rakan senegara.
Kementerian Kesihatan cadang wujud tiga lagi Wellness Hub di Sabah
Kementerian Kesihatan bercadang untuk mewujudkan tiga lagi Wellness Hub di Sabah bagi mendorong amalan kualiti hidup sihat dalam kalangan penduduk di negeri itu.
Kaedah nyamuk berwolbachia atasi masalah kes denggi di N.Sembilan
Kumulatif kes denggi di Negeri Sembilan merekodkan peningkatan kepada 2,824 kes hingga Minggu Epidemiologi ke-17 (ME17) tahun ini berbanding 1,032 kes bagi tempoh yang sama tahun lepas.
Hajiji mahu Jabatan Perhutanan Sabah tingkat kutipan hasil hutan
Ketua Menteri Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor mahu Jabatan Perhutanan Sabah (JPS) meningkatkan kutipan hasil hutan untuk mencapai sasaran RM165 juta yang ditetapkan pada tahun ini.
Pesara maut, kereta dipandu terbabas akibat serangan jantung
Siasatan awal mendapati mangsa memandu dari arah Lahat dan apabila sampai di tempat kejadian dia dipercayai mengalami serangan jantung.
HAWANA: Lima wartawan Sarawak bakal terima Anugerah Apresiasi Premier Sarawak
Kriteria bagi penerima anugerah itu akan diumum sewaktu acara kemuncak penyampaian Anugerah Tokoh HAWANA.
EPL: Manchester City himpit Arsenal
Gawang The Seagulls robek lagi kali ini menerusi bintang meningkat naik Phil Foden dengan gol pada minit ke-26 dan 34.
EPL: Kai Havertz pastikan Arsenal menang bergaya tewaskan Chelsea
Kemenangan itu meletakkan Arsenal tiga mata di hadapan Liverpool yang kini berada di tangga kedua dengan bermain lebih satu perlawanan.
Bayern, Real akhiri cabaran Eropah Arsenal, City
Anak buah Thomas Tuchel mara ke pusingan empat terbaik, selepas menang 1-0 ke atas skuad kendalian Mikel Arteta.
EPL: Arsenal perlu pamer karakter sebenar - Arteta
Arteta berkata, para pemain perlu bangkit mempamerkan karakter sebenar kerana perjuangan mereka masih belum berakhir.
EPL: Manchester City terus bagi ancaman kepada Arsenal
Manchester City kekal di atas dalam saingan Liga Perdana Inggeris (EPL), dengan perbezaan dua mata di hadapan Arsenal dan Liverpool.
EPL: Arsenal kembali rampas kedudukan teratas liga
Arsenal berjaya merampas semula kedudukan teratas Liga Perdana Inggeris (EPL) apabila cemerlang ketika menewaskan Brighton 3-0.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
EPL: Arsenal rosakkan rekod gah City di Etihad
Ini kali pertama Arsenal berjaya mencatat aksi tanpa bolos atau 'cleen sheet' di kubu keramat City sejak 2015.
UCL: Arsenal tak gentar hadapi sebarang lawan -- Odegaard
Odegaard percaya Arsenal tidak perlu gentar untuk menghadapi Real Madrid, Bayern Munich atau Manchester City dalam pusingan UCL seterusnya.
UCL: Arsenal tamatkan badi 14 tahun ke suku akhir
David Raya menyelamatkan dua sepakan penalti ketika Arsenal menewaskan Porto 4-2 untuk mara ke suku akhir Liga Juara-Juara (UCL) dalam tempoh 14 tahun.