Talk to the football fan on the street in England about Europe's super-clubs and the chances are that Borussia Dortmund will not merit a mention. Bayern Munich will normally be advanced as Germany's representative, as the discussion incorporates the rival powers of Spain, England and Italy.
Dortmund tend to exist under the radar in England, which is a curiosity, to say the least. This is a club whose raucous home stadium regularly holds a shade over 80,000 for Bundesliga matches, one that has a Champions League trophy in their cabinet and can, these days, also resist big-money inquiries for their marquee player.
Perhaps their toils in recent seasons, although not the last one, and their subsequent placement in the bottom pot of seeds for the Champions League draw, fired the sense of them being some breed of underdog. The reality, as everybody at Arsenal knew, was different and it brought context, on more than one level, to the London club's opening steps in their 14th consecutive group phase campaign.
Arsenal are living within new boundaries. There will remain a section at the Emirates Stadium who believe it is a divine right for their club to number among the favourites for the major trophies but, after the turmoil of the summer months, expectations have been revised. It always seemed that anything gained here would be a bonus and so the draw, despite the last-gasp cruelty, represented credibility and, possibly, a corner turned.
The feeling, as articulated by the assistant manager, Pat Rice, was that the Dortmund substitute Ivan Perisic could "try that 35 or 40 times and he would hit it wide" rather than sumptuously pick out the top corner. Nobody can legislate for such individual brilliance and Arsène Wenger's pump of the fists at full-time told its own story.
Strong personalities had been required in an atmosphere that assaulted the senses, even though the capacity was some 15,000 down due to Uefa's regulations over standing areas. Dortmund would have been goals to the good if Kevin Grosskreutz, Shinji Kagawa and Robert Lewandowski had demonstrated greater composure in the early running but most of the initial quality came from them.
Arsenal clung on – their defence was in disarray for the first half-hour – and yet, it was they who led at the interval. Sebastian Kehl's error was grisly; Theo Walcott fed Robin van Persie to exact the punishment. Dortmund's young players felt a sucker punch to the guts.
Kagawa was excellent while Mario Götze showed why he is one of the continent's most highly rated young talents. The 19-year-old is blessed with a mesmeric touch and his tricks drew the breath. Arsenal had inquired during the summer about the attacking midfielder and there were reports of a €40m (£36.6m) price tag. Dortmund would not sell for any money.
Van Persie's ice-cool finish fortified Arsenal, just as his vital effort from closer range had done in the play-off second leg at Udinese. Rather abruptly, Arsenal were transformed, and the confidence flowed back. It was encouraging to see Wenger's players strut their stuff for periods, having refused to go under in what amounted to a first-half storm. Van Persie's was a captain's performance while Bacary Sagna, Alex Song and Wojciech Szczesny emerged with honours.
Wenger had, on Monday, laid out the simple equation for qualification to the last 16: win the home ties and try to grab something on the road. Arsenal did that and they could portray the point, with some justification.
Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 13 Sep 11
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