Even those working in the best casinos note how goals from former Tottenham player Kevin Prince-Boateng, two efforts from Robinho and a penalty from Ibrahimovic secured the Rossoneri a clear first league advantage against their Premier League opponents.

The Swedish international was at the heart of Milan’s impressive performance that swept aside Arsenal, with the Swedish international setting up two goals to add to his converted penalty he won following a foul from Johan Djourou in the 79^th minute.

Milan have been knocked out of the Champions League by English clubs in the last four seasons, prompting former Italian president and Milan owner Silvio Burlusconi to admit the club had a ‘taboo’ in Europe against British clubs.

The result left Gunners boss Arsene Wenger lamenting the ‘worst night’ he had ever experienced at the club in Europe, but Ibrahimovic insisted that the tie was not dead and buried just yet.

"It was a night of great emotion because we won a difficult match with a great result and the side played brilliantly. You don't beat Arsenal 4-0 every day," Ibrahimovic was quoted as saying on the Uefa website.

"We are happy to take this first leg result over to London. Everybody helped each other out, we played with a great tempo, we played intelligently and everyone showed a great will to win. Above all, we showed the right mentality tonight.

"However it's not over yet. This is only the first leg. We'll have to stay focused for the return in London and then we'll see how we get on," the Scandinavia forward stated.

The game marked a low point in Wenger’s 16 years in charge of Arsenal  as the Gunners succumbed to their heaviest ever European defeat, while they are far from guaranteed a place in next year’s competition as they battle with Chelsea and Liverpool for the fourth and final league qualifying spot.

Wenger was damning in his criticism of his side’s efforts, admitting it was a ‘shocking’ performance that left them needing to become the first team ever to come back from four goals down in order to qualify for the quarter finals.

"It is our worst night in Europe. We were punished and deservedly so. I felt we were never in the game, we were very poor offensively and defensively. It was shocking to see how we were beaten everywhere,” he said.

"There was not one moment in the 90 minutes where we were really in the game. What made it worse was that we had to chase the game. It was always the same problem, balls over the top and we were well beaten. It is difficult to analyse. I think it is better not to talk too much …and to analyse with a cooler head and regroup for the next game."