Frank Lampard admitted his Chelsea side were "outclassed" by a superior Bayern Munich side as their Champions League hopes went up in smoke.
The Blues were soundly beaten by the German champions in a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, where defender Marcos Alonso was also sent off.
It leaves Chelsea with the near-impossible task of qualifying for the next round when they travel to Munich in the return leg next month.
And Lampard conceded there was a clear gulf between the sides in a critical assessment of his team's display.
“The performance was poor and sometimes you have to be brutally honest,” he said. “They outclassed us in every department and it's quite sobering.
“I learned about the players tonight. It was a learning curve. If you look at the choice of passes they make, our choices have to improve.
“If our players have a bit about them, which I think they do, they will look at who they were playing against and the level they need to work towards.
“But it was a clear there is a lot of work to be done and we have to take it on the chin.
“We will always play with pride but I'm more concerned about the bigger picture. How quickly can we recover for the Premier League?”
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta had a difficult evening, suffering an unfortunate slip which allowed Bayern to move in for their opening goal, before being beaten to a header in the build-up to their second.
Serge Gnabry finished off both moves after linking up well with teammate Robert Lewandowski, who went on to add a third from Alphonso Davies' cross.
Alonso was then given his marching orders for swinging a petulant elbow, catching Lewandowski in the face.
The Chelsea full-back looked to have got away with it after referee Clement Turpin initially brandished a yellow, before a VAR review encouraged the official to change it to a red.
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