LONDON, Nov 24, (RTRS): The irony of Arsenal becoming the first English team to reach the Champions League round of 16 was not lost on manager Arsene Wenger after his team beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday to seal top spot in Group F.
The 62-year-old Frenchman, who declared his “love and commitment” to the club before the game, gave a sheepish grin as he admitted “surprise” at Arsenal’s stunning turnaround in form following their disastrous start to the season.
“I have to be cautious what I say,” he replied when asked if he was astonished that Arsenal had qualified while Premier League rivals Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea remained unsure of their places in the knockout stage.

“But I think ‘yes’ as Manchester United could have qualified (on Tuesday) and everyone expected Manchester City to qualify,” he added.
“But it is difficult at this level. I have coached over 150 Champions League matches and every game gives different problems.
“The groups were very difficult for the Premier League teams. The level has gone up a lot and we were in a difficult group, so I am very happy and pleased to see where we have come from.”
While the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea all qualified directly for the group stages this season, Arsenal had to come through a tricky qualifier against Udinese in August, when they were playing poorly in the league.
Despite taking only one point from their opening three matches, including an 8-2 thrashing at Manchester United, Arsenal overcame the Italians to reach the competition proper and Wenger said they had recovered well from their poor start.

Arsenal have climbed steadily up the league table on the back of striker Robin van Persie’s brilliance and have now qualified for the Champions League knockout stage for the 12th straight season.
“When we drew Udinese in the qualifier, you could not bet that we would go through as we did. So I am happy because we have come through a very difficult period.”
Van Persie was again their match-winner against the German champions, scoring both goals to take his season tally to 17.
The injury-prone Dutchman has stayed fit all year and scored 38 goals in 41 Arsenal matches during 2011 and Wenger could barely hide his delight at the player he appointed skipper after Cesc Fabregas left for Barcelona in the European summer.
“It might not be the obvious choice to make a striker your captain because much of the game is played behind him and strikers focus on their own game,” he said.
“But I saw something in him as a captain. He speaks his mind, thinks day and night about football and is completely focused on the game.”

And his goals also now give Wenger the luxury of resting some of his team for their final group match at Olympiakos on Dec 6 while the other English teams will all be playing their strongest sides in a bid to join Arsenal in the last 16.
Wenger, however, said he intended to field a strong side because he wanted to win the match. No-one would blame him if he rested Van Persie though, removing him from the threat of an injury in a game, for Arsenal at least, of academic interest.
Alex Song, whose brilliant run and cross made Van Persie’s opening goal early in the second half stressed the importance of the Dutchman remaining injury-free.
“He has been unbelievable for us this season,” Song said. “It would be very difficult for us without him.”
Wenger concluded: “He is an exceptional player, he takes advantage of our offensive play from the wings and we create a lot of chances and I can’t deny he scores all the goals at the moment. We hope that we can keep him fit for a long time.”

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech said the players, not under-fire young manager Andre Villas-Boas, must shoulder the blame for the team’s dramatic form slump.
The London club lost for the third time in five games on Wednesday, going down 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Portuguese Villas-Boas, 34, took over when the experienced Carlo Ancelotti was sacked in the close season but his tactics and team selections are starting to come in for widespread criticism.
“The manager is not on the pitch, we are on the pitch and we are making mistakes,” Cech told the club’s website(www.chelseafc.com) on Thursday. “He cannot do anything about individual mistakes while he is standing by the bench.
“The players are to blame and we know it. There are no excuses.”

Chelsea have never failed to progress beyond the group stage in the competition but the heat will be on the Stamford Bridge club when they host Valencia on Dec 6.
The defeat at Leverkusen means Villas-Boas’s men need a victory or a goalless draw against the Spaniards in their final Group E game to seal a place in the first knockout round. Leverkusen are already through.
Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the lead before Leverkusen fought back with goals from Eren Derdiyok and Manuel Friedrich, the winner coming in stoppage time.
“We can’t really wonder how we lost because we didn’t kill the game off and we repeated the same mistakes,” said Cech. “We have been talking recently about the same mistakes — concentration and little details when we don’t clear the ball.
“I think we need to be much more aggressive in terms of defending ... we have to make sure this is the last time it happens.”

The Czech goalkeeper has been blamed in some quarters for Leverkusen’s late winner but he said Friedrich’s header was simply unstoppable as the ball dipped just under the bar.
“It was too good,” said Cech. “I tried to reach it but I couldn’t and that was the reason the goal went in.
“We have put ourselves in a difficult situation ... but that is the way it is. We are one of the top teams in Europe and this is not a situation we want to be in.”
Chelsea, who won the Premier League in 2010 but are down in fifth place this season after losing four out of their 12 matches, will try to bounce back with a home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Valencia found it all too easy against Racing Genk on Wednesday in recording their biggest Champions League win but coach Unai Emery knows securing the score draw they need to qualify at Chelsea next month will present a much tougher challenge.
A quickfire first-half hat-trick from striker and captain Roberto Soldado, and goals from Jonas, Pablo Hernandez, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa, gave Emery’s side a crushing 7-0 win over the Belgians at the Mestalla.

That result is one goal short of Liverpool’s record 8-0 destruction of Besiktas in 2007.
A score draw at Stamford Bridge on Dec 6 would be enough to secure a berth in the last 16 after Chelsea were upset in Germany by Bayer Leverkusen, who went top of Group E and sealed their place in the knockout round.
“We have a chance in London to see what we are capable of in this competition and against a powerful opponent,” Emery, whose side drew 1-1 with Chelsea in Valencia in September, said at a post-match news conference.
“We’ll have to prepare with a lot of strength and intelligence, but we should try to enjoy it as well. We have our fate in our own hands and for that we should be satisfied.
“We’ll go to London to win.”

Valencia’s solid start to the season has been built around the splendid form of Soldado, the former Real Madrid, Osasuna and Getafe forward, who has netted five in Europe’s elite club competition and eight in La Liga, where Valencia are third behind leaders Real and second-placed Barcelona.
Soldado’s latest performance, coming after his double against Real in La Liga at the weekend, will boost his chances of a recall to the Spain squad for next year’s European Championship in Ukraine and Poland.
The 26-year-old, who was born in Valencia, has represented the world and European champions only twice, back in June 2007, when he failed to score.
“He is improving every day and he will get a chance to play for the national team if he carries on like this,” Emery said.
Kevin-Prince Boateng may have rubbed salt into Ghanaian wounds by scoring one of the best goals of the Champions League season in AC Milan’s 3-2 home defeat by Barcelona.
The heavily-tattooed midfielder quit the Black Stars this month at the age of 24, the latest controversy involving the player widely remembered for the incident which forced Germany’s Michael Ballack out of the 2010 World Cup.

German-born Boateng, raised in one of Berlin’s toughest neighbourhoods, has enjoyed some spectacular moments in his second season with the Italian champions.
He scored in the Supercup win over Inter Milan in August and then struck a magnificent long-range goal in the Champions League win over BATE Borisov.
That was followed by a 14-minute hat-trick immediately after he came on as a halftime substitute in a Serie A match at Lecce. Trailing 3-0, Milan bounced back to win 4-3.
On Wednesday, the player who models himself on Pele and Rivaldo produced a goal either Brazilian would have been proud of against Lionel Messi’s Barca.
Collecting a pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic at an awkward height, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund and Portsmouth player flicked the ball through a defender’s legs and fired a low shot between Victor Valdes and the near post.
For Ghana it was an untimely reminder of what they will be missing at the African Nations Cup in January.
The Ghana FA said Boateng had told the association that playing for club and country was too much.

“According to Kevin the physical demands of playing for club and country at high levels are taking a toll on his health,” it said.
“The player also explained that in order to remain healthy and stave off injuries he has consulted his doctors and family over the matter and has decided to take the decision to excuse himself from national duties.”
The decision caused an angry reaction in the West African nation and led to a discussion over the use of foreign-based players, especially those raised in other countries but qualified to play through their parents.
Some commentators said Ghana had become over-dependant on foreign-based players who often chose to play for the country when they were unable to win a place in other national teams.

Others said Boateng won his transfer to Milan on the back of his excellent performances for Ghana at the World Cup when the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals.
“All one has to do these days is to be a Ghanaian of foreign descent, request to switch nationality and you are guaranteed an automatic first team place in the Black Stars,” said one columnist.
“He played a few games, performed admirably and now his career is steadily rising he realises it is time to pack up his bags and bid goodbye to Ghana.
“I hope he wins the African Player of the Year award for no other reason than to see the reactions of Ghanaian football fans.”