Arsenal's first Champions League campaign ended in failure with a match still to play.

Mark Lawrenceson and John Inverdale discuss the match (BBC Radio 5 Live)

The English champions were beaten 1-0 by French champions Lens as Ray Parlour was sent off during an ugly climax to the game.

The news was bad for Arsenal even before this match kicked off.

A dejected Arsene Wenger after a costly French defeat

Arsene Wenger was already without Denis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieria and Emmanuel Petit.

And as the players took the field at Wembley they learnt that Dynamo Kiev had come back from 1-0 down against Panathanaikos to triumph 2-1 in the other match in their group.

Wenger paired Nicolas Anelka with Christopher Wreh up front, while Marc Overmars remained in midfield alongside Stephen Hughes, Parlour and Remi Garde.

No way past for Nicolas Anelka against Eric Sikora

Arsenal managed to create three openings within the first 15 minutes but their young strikers failed to take advantage of any of them.

The first chance fell to Wreh after Parlour had found him inside the Lens penalty area, but defender Cyrille Magnier recovered to block his shot.

There was further cause for alarm for the French side when keeper Guillaume Warmuz raced well out of his area to cut out a long cross-field through-ball towards Overmars.

A chance then opened up for Anelka as he dummied Wreh's through-ball but he failed to get in a shot before the ball was cleared.

Marc Overmars cannot get past Yoann Lachor

Lens did threaten in brief patches, but Anelka was soon through on goal again but he shot wastefully over the top.

The determination of Wreh then again won possession in midfield and set Overmars away down the left wing.

But the Dutchman wasted his cross, placing it too far ahead of Anelka, who had two further chances before the French side began to assert their authority.

Seaman had to dive to parry a powerful shot from Vladimir Smicer, the Czech international, who played against England at Wembley only last week.

Bebeve scores the match winning goal

Then Wreh wasted another opportunity after good work by Parlour.

Arsenal received a further blow at half-time with Adams being forced out of the action and he had to be replaced by Steve Bould.

The centre-back was immediately in the thick of the action, playing Smicer onside as he raced onto a through-ball down the left.

Nigel Winterburn just did enough to put off Nouma as the striker looked to capitalise on the ensuing cross.

Remi Garde and Frederic Dehu

Arsenal were looking stretched at the back but they still needed to score, and although Wreh and Anelka were struggling, Martin Keown did threaten when he flicked on a corner.

But it was the French side who were imposing themselves as Seaman gratefully hung on to a drive from Smicer.

Wenger reacted by sending on Luis Boa Morte and Nelson Vivas for Garde and Wreh with 22 minutes left.

His final gamble almost worked instantly as Parlour forced Warmuz into a fine diving save.

Lens keeper Guillaume Warmuz clashes with Nigel Winterburn

But Arsenal went 1-0 down with 18 minutes left when Debeve fired past Seaman from close range as Smicer crossed from the left.

The match threatened to boil over with a series of ugly confrontations in the closing stages.

Parlour was sent off as injury-time approached for kicking opponent Cyril Rool and then Vairelles was shown the red card seconds later for a clash with Dixon.

Arsenal tried to get the goal they needed but despite a generous amount of injury time were unable to break through.

"It is sad to lose a game of such importance to an offside goal. But I don't think we have been too weak in the group, we have had nearly everything go against us in every game," Wenger said afterwards.

Their away match in Greece in two weeks is now a meaningless game with the double-winners falling at the first hurdle in Europe for the third year running.

They will no doubt blame injuries and absences for their early demise although they have conceded late goals, and many feel their squad is too lightweight to compete when key players are absent.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Adams, Anelka, Overmars, Wreh, Keown, Parlour, Hughes, Garde. Subs: Manninger, Bould, Vivas, Grimandi, Upson, Boa Morte, Mendez.

Lens: Warmuz, Sikora, Lachor, Magnier, Rool, Debeve, Nyarko, Vairelles, Dehu, Smicer, Nouma. Subs: Marichez, Moreira, Eloi, Wagneau, Vivian Foe, Meride, Sankhare, Diop.