Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Arsenal: Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fire hosts to victory on humbling night for Gunners
And right here was the reason the Champions League seedings have got to change next year.
Arsenal
are about as close to being among the top eight teams in Europe as
Borussia Dortmund’s mighty and magnificent Westfalenstadion is to a wet
Wednesday at Gresty Road, Crewe.
They
were outclassed in Germany, outplayed, at times torn apart, reduced to
an imitation of a team that UEFA blithely placed in Pot 1 when the draw
was made earlier this month. Arsenal have no business sitting beside the
champions of Europe and the Goliaths of the strongest European leagues
right now.
They have
been allowed to make the most of an impressive run of qualifications and
the odd foray into the last eight, but this can no longer hide the
reality. The scoreline did not flatter Borussia Dortmund. Their margin
of victory could have been doubled, even trebled, without complaint.
Their
opening goal, in the final minute of the first-half, was their 15th
attempt – and if anything their chances after half-time were better, if
less frequent. They totalled 22 by the time referee Olegario Benquerenca
of Portugal called a halt to a very one-sided contest.
Quicker,
sharper, more intelligent, with greater determination at the back,
quite simply Dortmund should not be this far ahead. Jurgen Klopp is a
fine coach, but he presides over a club that is constantly battling to
keep its finest players, often without success. The best are picked off,
by Bayern Munich or the elite of England’s Premier League – Arsenal
would fancy their chances of getting a player out of Dortmund every
time, as they once did with Tomas Rosicky.
Yet
the Germans were on a different plane. Only mistakes in front of goal
stopped this being a painfully sobering rout. As it was, even the
appearance of a 19-year-old rookie, Hector Bellerin, at right back
cannot excuse Arsenal’s inferiority. Nothing that happened was
Bellerin’s fault; and Dortmund were missing Marco Reus and Mats Hummels.
Yes,
Arsenal had the odd chance, too – but even this meagre resistance
raised more questions than answers, all falling to new signing Danny
Welbeck, who did little to refute Louis van Gaal’s criticisms of him.
The Dutchman, not reluctant to back his judgement even in the worst of
times, may be saying that he told us so.
Arsenal
were desperate for a striker to supplement the injured Olivier Giroud,
but their problems run deeper than that. Mikel Arteta was deployed to
guard the back four, but that is not his natural role and it showed.
Dortmund
were too quickly into the heart of Arsenal’s defence; any team of
attacking quality will enjoy playing against them now. Arsene Wenger was
once invincible with men like Patrick Vieira in midfield. It seems
incredible that he no longer finds such physically imposing figures
relevant to how Arsenal play.
The
goals summed up Arsenal’s malaise. The first was horridly soft and come
from a bungled visitors' throw-in. Possession was lost, the ball was
cleared and Ciro Immobile picked it up inside his own half.
