A 2-0 defeat away against Arsenal? These things happen, and it makes little difference to the UEFA Champions League Group D table standings. BVB still hold their destiny in their own hands as a win or possibly even a draw at home against RSC Anderlecht on 9 December would mean they go into the last 16 as group winners. So no harm done. The manner of the defeat against the London side, however, was disheartening.

Of course the Gunners' early goal to take a 1-0 lead changed the game. It meant, “We were in a different tactical situation,“ said Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger. While Borussia struggled to get out of the blocks and concentrated on winning their tackles, their whole game plan was thrown into disarray after just 65 seconds. “We knew they would put us under pressure right from the start. But we still weren't able to prevent the goal,” bemoaned Marcel Schmelzer.

Playing in his first Champions League game, Arsenal's Sanogo set up the chance with a backheel and  managed to hold his nerve in front of Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller to slot the ball home from a tight angle. Jürgen Klopp said, “For the opposition to score against us in a 5-on-3 situation is probably the worst start you could imagine.”

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Disappointed BVB players after the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates.

The fact that the goal should have been disallowed for offside seems almost irrelevant. Nobody in the Dortmund team was using it as an excuse. “Whether it was offside or not is beside the point. It doesn't alter the fact that we defended very poorly in this situation,” said Sven Bender. There was still also plenty of time left on the clock to turn the match around.

But therein lay the problem. BVB's performance throughout the entire match was lacklustre and lacked concentration. They came off worse in the most important tackles (with an overall tackle win ratio of 49 percent) and weren't determined enough. “We didn't play well. We created hardly any scoring chances. In the first half we had little possession. And when we did get the ball there wasn't enough movement and we were pressed back,” explained Matthias Ginter.

Mkhitaryan could, however, have equalised in the 39th minute but his shot was saved by Arsenal keeper Martinez. Before that, the Armenian's close-range shot on 21 minutes went wide of the goal.

So BVB were still left chasing the game after the break. “In the second half Arsenal played deeper, but we still couldn't figure out how to break them down,” said Matthias Ginter. “Arsenal did a good job, they played a high line to begin with and attacked us early on. We lacked a bit of creativity,” explained Lukasz Piszczek.

There were no more scoring opportunities until Ramos' injury-time chance. Arsenal, on the other hand, always looked dangerous with Alexis Sanchez up front and it was the Chilean striker who sealed the 2-0 win with a goal on 57 minutes. 

“In the second half things looked a bit better but that wasn't the level at which we can play. Too often we were late coming into challenges and couldn't put our opponents under any real pressure, “ said Neven Subotic. BVB sporting director Michael Zorc added: “It wasn't a great performance by us. Up to now we haven't been able to follow up our Champions League victories with a win in the Bundesliga. Maybe this time things will be different.”

BVB are away at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Sunday in a game they almost have to win. “There's a lot riding on this game for us, it's a really important match. We have to be on our toes and we want to show our best side,” said Sven Bender. Neven Subotic: “We really have to pull ourselves together and get all three points in Frankfurt.”