da dobrowin： Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta has claimed that his side has no hope of winning the Champions League if they continue to play the way they did against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
da roleta： The Gunners succumbed to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against a vastly superior Dortmund side in their first group game, with Arteta believeing that an appearance in June’s final in Berlin will remain but a distant dream unless there is a drastic improvement in the team’s performances.
“If you make the mistakes that we did, against top sides, we know that there is no chance to win the Champions League” said Arteta in the aftermath of the defeat.
“We encouraged them to do that by giving the ball away so many times in very difficult positions. They exploit the spaces very well and they put us under pressure.
“I am bitterly disappointed. I am very disappointed because we knew their strengths, what we had to avoid and what we did was encourage them to play their game.
“We have to react. We have to analyse what we have done wrong and try to improve.”
Arsenal’s European zenith came in 2006 when they reached the Champions League Final in Paris, only to lose narrowly to Barcelona despite taking the lead. Since then, Arsene Wenger’s men have not enjoyed much success on the continent, exiting at the Round of 16 stage in the past four seasons.
However, the season is still in its infancy, and after last weekend’s impressive display against league champions Manchester City, Arsenal midfielder and England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is convinced that the Gunners are more than capable of returning to winning ways as they head to Aston Villa on Saturday.
“It is early in the season, Villa are a good side. It is a nice place to go and play football and we have to be at the required level” the Arsenal man said.
“They will be tough but if we believe in ourselves as title contenders this year and we will have to go with the belief that we will win the game and that is what we are going to do.
“They are a good side with good players and we saw them go to Anfield and put in a good performance both defensively and going forward. We know what Villa are capable of but won’t let this performance get us down too much.”
After making some big-name signings in recent years – Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez being the standout examples – Arsene Wenger was confident that his side would have the quality and strength in depth to sustain a credible challenge for the league title and proceed further into the Champions League than in previous campaigns. However, after Tuesday’s insipid performance the pressure is on for the Gunners to prove their worth, otherwise their captain’s warnings may ring true.
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