UCL Review: Arsenal 2-0 Borussia Dortmund (15th consecutive knockout stage qualification)

Arsenal have sealed their qualification into the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League for the 15th consecutive year after an impressive and controlled 2-0 win against the German giants Borussia Dortmund.

It was a much effective and controlled performance from the Gunners after last weekends miserable defeat at home to Manchester United. The whole team defended as a team and attacked as a unit which had been lacking from the team so far this season. Arsenal went 1-0 up in the 2nd minute of the game through a goal from the returning Yaya Sanogo and after that it was all about keeping focus and not let the other team comeback. Arsenal doubled their lead in the second half through an extraordinary goal from the man himself Alexis Sanchez. The men in red & white won the game 2-0 and cut the gap to just 2 points to Dortmund heading into the final group game against Galatasaray in Turkey.

UCL Preview: Arsenal vs. Borussia Dortmund (All we can do is “Support”)

All we as fans can do is “support” the team at this moment of time as after a disappointing loss to Manchester United at the weekend, it’s now time for our final home UEFA Champions League group game of the season as we prepare to host the German giants Borussia Dortmund.

TEAM NEWS: Laurent Koscielny is back in the squad while Jack Wilshere, Szczesny and Theo Walcott are out with injuries.

Most of the Arsenal fan base have lost their faith in Arsene Wenger and quite rightly so. The manager deserves all the criticism in the world and he must accept his failures and show proper respect to the fans of the club. Besides that, we as fans can’t do anything about the internal matters of the club as the board is happy with what Wenger has given them over the last decade or so. After two back to back losses in the league, the pressure is more than ever before on the shoulders of the players and the manager and with Borussia Dortmund enjoying a 100% win record in the Champions League so far, the immediate future looks very rough for the Gunners.

UCL Review: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Arsenal (Poor poor Arsenal, POOR, POOR)

No improvements were visible as Arsenal once again got humiliated, dominated and outclassed away from home against once of the big clubs in Europe. The Gunners were totally destroyed from the first second to the last. We started the match on the back foot and we were like that till the very end of the game. Arsenal were lucky to concede no goals in the opening 40 minutes thanks to bad finishing from some of the Dortmund players but right at the edge of half-time, their new signing Immobile gave them a very well deserved 1-0 lead. 

The second half started just like the first one and this time Dortmund were able to finish their chance immediately as the blistering pace of Aubameyang was able to get pass the Arsenal midfield and defense and scored on the counter attack. From there on, Arsenal had no chances to make a comeback, the few opportunities they had were squandered by Danny Welbeck which shows that he is not a clinical finisher and the Gunners still lacks ruthlessness in front of goal. Debuchy’s absence and Chambers illness meant that Arsenal had to give one of their academy players a first team debut and that unlucky fellow was Hector Bellerin. It proved that Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to buy another defender in the transfer window was costing his side big time. Bellerin was totally outclassed and outnumbered by the Dortmund players. I feel sorry for the lad as it was very unfair for him to make his debut against a big side like  Dortmund that too away from home. At the end, Arsenal lost the game 2-0 and got off to a losing start to their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign.

UCL Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. Arsenal (Let the Champions League begin)

The biggest club competition starts with Arsenal traveling to an all familiar ground i.e the home of Borussia Dortmund (Signal Iduna Park). The Gunners had met the German club in the previous two group stages of the competition with Arsenal finishing second behind Dortmund in last seasons campaign.

TEAM NEWS: Nacho Monreal hasn’t traveled with a back injury while Debuchy is out for a long time. Chambers will be assessed before the match.

After last weekend’s disappointing 2-2 draw against Manchester City, it’s time for Arsenal to clinch a victory but that is a major doubt with them having to travel to a daunting ground against one of the most dangerous teams in Europe at the moment i.e Dortmund. Arsenal managed to grab a late victory at Dortmund last season but Dortmund came back and took their revenge at Emirates Stadium which propelled them to finish above the Gunners in the final group standings. Having said that, it’s a new season and the Gunners are equipped with better players than last season and we hope that players like Sanchez and Welbeck will help the men in red and white to clinch another victory against the German side.

Arsenal’s Champions League Draw

So, after securing a Champions League spot for the 17th year in a row, we found out last night that the Gunners are placed in Group – D alongside Germany’s Dortmund, Turkey’s Galatasaray and Belgium’s Anderlecht. It’s important to note that the Gunners were drawn with Dortmund in the previous 2 seasons as well and it was the German club who won the group last season with Arsenal finishing second.

UCL Review: Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Arsenal (Nothing is impossible)

 

Nothing is impossible as Arsenal earned a major win and became the first English club to beat Dortmund at Dortmund. The result stunned the world as most of the football pundits had written off the Gunners before the match but little did they know that this team is at its dangerous when they play as the underdogs. Arsenal are the club of firsts as they were the first English club to beat Real Madrid in Bernabeau, AC Milan in San Siro, Bayern Munich in Munich and now Borussia Dortmund in Dortmund. The win sends Arsenal to the top of the Group – F which many has dubbed as the “Group of Death” with two games to go. 

It was a very tensed game and it was Arsenal’s solid defensive performance which did the the job done as the Gunners back four weathered the storm from the get go and displayed a brave and matured performance throughout the 90 minutes. It was goalless at half-time. The first 15 minutes of the second half was dominated completely by Dortmund and they even found the net twice but were denied because of it being off-sides. Then, the Gunners took advantage of the few loop holes in Dortmund’s defense as Olivier Giroud’s assist through Mesut Ozil’s looping pass was headed in by none other than Arsenal’s man in form Aaron Ramsey which proved to be the winner against last season’s UEFA Champions League finalists. 

Arsenal proved their doubters wrong by pulling off 2 back to back big game wins and they will now be aiming to make it 3 big game wins in a row when they travel to Old Trafford this Sunday to face one of their arch-nemesis Manchester United in the league.

UCL Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. Arsenal (A draw/win is necessary)

A win or at least a draw is necessary as Arsenal travels to Germany to face Dortmund in a crunch Matchday 4 night in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Both teams go into this game in brilliant form having getting top notch results against quality oppositions at the weekend in their respective leagues.

This match is vital for Arsenal as after getting to a great start to their group campaign, they faced a setback when Dortmund beat them in a tight 2-1 win 2 weeks ago at the Emirates. So, the Gunners are going into this match needing a positive result to give themselves a fighting chance to qualify to the knockout rounds. 

Team news:  Jack Wilshere is out with a minor ankle injury suffered before the Liverpool game while Kieran Gibbs and Serge Gnabry are back and available.

As we are out of the Capital One Cup which was the last tournament in our priority list, Wenger’s men needs to continue to grow both in the league and the Champions League to keep themselves alive in their top 2 priorities of the season. Arsenal’s star signing Mesut Ozil needs to step up after having a few quiet games for the North London club.

UCL Review: Arsenal 1-2 Borussia Dortmund (Immature performance from the boys)

 

It was an immature performance from the boys as we lost a very important home game against last years Champions League runner-up Borussia Dortmund 2-1. The Gunners never looked like themselves from the get go and gave Dortmund too much respect in the early stages. Although we grew more and more as the game progressed but small details decides game at this level and a team like Dortmund can punish you for even the smallest of mistakes and the Gunners were punished for going for the win too much at the end and left themselves totally exposed at the back which enabled Dortmund to get a phenomenal away win.

It was a very passive performance from Arsenal. They players didn’t worked hard enough off the ball and looked a bit off for a large part of the game. Ramsey was punished for his dangerous play on the edge of the penalty area as Mkhitaryan gave Dortmund the lead after stealing the ball from an arrogant Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the penalty area. The Gunners came back to make it 1-1 just before half-time when Giroud made most of the Dortmund keeper’s keeping howler but that didn’t went on to give the Gunners an edge as they played passively in the start of the second half as well. In the final 30 minutes, Arsenal went for a winner when Jack Wilshere was subbed off for Santi Cazorla. Cazorla nearly gave the Gunners the lead when he hit the bar but the boys were punished at the end as they left completely exposed at the back and Dortmund’s one clinical counter-attacking movement was enough for their star striker Lewandowski to give the men in yellow a vital win away from home. 

The group of death has become deadly after that loss as 3 teams in the group are currently with the same number of points after this many games and Arsenal will now need to get a result away from home in order to get out of this tough group safely.

UCL Preview: Arsenal vs. Borussia Dortmund (The biggest game of the season so far)

 

Arsenal prepares for their third group stage game of this seasons UEFA Champions League against last seasons runner-up Borussia Dortmund. This is arguably the biggest game of the season so far for the Gunners in terms of facing a top quality opponent. Both the clubs are doing quite well in their respective domestic leagues but this will be an European night and the football purists are in for a footballing treat as both teams prefers to play attacking football.

Arsenal are currently sitting comfortably at the top of the Group – F having grabbed maximum points from their opening two games while Dortmund are 2nd with 3 points having been defeated by Napoli in their opening group stage game. So, this game is more important to Dortmund than to Arsenal as they need get something from this fixture in order to stay in contention to qualify to the knockout round. 

Team news: Flamini is out with a head injury.

All in all it sets up a mouthwatering contest as both the teams are aiming to top the group and Arsene Wenger who will be celebrating his 64th birthday, his players would want to give him a much deserved gift in the form of a victory against last seasons runner-up Borussia Dortmund. This is Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far and with bigger games coming in the coming weeks, the Gunners would want to start it off on a positive note.