The captain is certain to miss the weekend visit to Aston Villa and could be absent for up to three weeks, while Emmanuel Eboué is potentially ruled out for longer due to a knee injury.
In Wenger's sights were Uefa for its system of locating an extra official behind each goal, which he stated still failed to award a penalty on 78 minutes for a challenge on Carlos Vela, and Braga for what the Frenchman claimed were underhand tactics that included Eboué being "kicked off the park".
Yet when Matheus twice ran through and finished beyond Lukasz Fabianski seven minutes and then seconds from the end, all the concerns regarding his side's frailties were shown up once more.
Wenger's analysis, though, was a little myopic. He said: "We played a team that camped in their own half and we've somehow lost. We could play 10 matches like that and win eight or nine times but tonight was the one we didn't. They refused to play and tried to catch us on the counter attack. They used every single trick in the book to slow the game down. Eboué has been kicked off the park without any punishment and we have been denied a certain penalty. What is the fifth official doing if he can't see that? It's an absolutely useless system.
"The turning point was the penalty. I still cannot understand how Carlos Vela got a yellow card. It remains a mystery."
Regarding Matheus's opener Wenger grudgingly accepted his team were at fault. "We were caught when Eboué was just down on a bad tackle which went unpunished," he said. "We made a mistake, a lack of concentration and communication, and were punished for it. And we were not sharp enough to create clear-cut chances.
"As for Cesc, it's a hamstring injury on the other leg [to that which has troubled him this season]. It's hard to say how long he'll be out for. He'll definitely miss the weekend – we will have to assess [him] tomorrow. It could be two to three weeks. Eboué has a medial ligament strain, so he's out for a few weeks."
Beyond this defeat and the implications it has for Arsenal's qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League – they must beat Partizan, who have no points, in the final group game to be certain of progression – is the serious question over whether after five years they can finally end their trophy drought.
On this showing and the display in the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham on Saturday, the answer is surely no. Against opponents routed 6-0 in the reverse of this fixture in September Arsenal needed to prove they could permanently eradicate the complacency that caused a two-goal lead to become a demoralising defeat to Spurs at the weekend.
Yet, again, Wenger was in denial mode when asked about any potential hangover. "Saturday's result had no knock-on effect," he said, "because I had seven players who did not play, and I had to rest some players."
Among those on the bench were Marouane Chamakh, who was replaced by Nicklas Bendtner, and Samir Nasri, outstanding so far this season, was replaced by Tomas Rosicky.
Some of the Arsenal supporters who had made the trip to Portugal, despite the country's general strike that was due to start at midnight, had again expressed frustration before kick-off at what they described as their team's commitment to "tip-tap near the goal but no shot".
On 18 minutes Kieran Gibbs offered a prime example of what can be a major failing of Wenger's team when slick work from colleagues allowed the left-back to collect possession inside the Braga area. But Gibbs, making a first start for nearly a month for his club, passed backwards and straight to an opponent.
When they were more direct, Arsenal's pace caused problems and they created enough chances from this method to take the lead. On 40 minutes Bendtner looped the ball over the defence and Theo Walcott hit a shot that nearly beat the Braga goalkeeper Felipe.
A further complaint from the travelling fans had been that Wenger is too protective of this current Arsenal side and needs to hand out a few more rollickings. Well, if the Frenchman tore strips off them at half-time his fury proved impotent as they delivered an even worse performance in the second half.
"It is hard to swallow but now we have to win our last game," said Wenger. "The most important thing for us now is to qualify. It is good that Shakhtar play against Braga but they are the super favourites to win the group."
Arsenal had been favourites but consecutive defeats now means it will be squeaky posterior time in a fortnight when they face Partizan at the Emirates Stadium. If they win, a Shakhtar defeat would allow them to top the group on the head-to-head basis.
Source: Jamie Jackson, The Guardian on 23 Nov 10
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