Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal – live!

• Bash F5 or use our auto-refresher for the latest • Send your thoughts to barney.ronay@guardian.co.uk • Catch up on Chelsea v Bayer Leverkusen here • And get all tonight’s latest scores right here 13 mins Cleared off the line by Sagna. that was lovely play by Gotze, who found Lewandowski in lots of space near goal by the simple tactic of passing it to where Koscielny should have been standing, if Koscileny was a better defender. Lewandovski rounded Szczesny but his shot was hacked away by Sagna. Dortmund are all over Arsenal here, as you might expect in the early minutes. 11 mins Blimey. A simple long pass over the top finds Kagawa in a vast pocket of space that seems to stretch from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately he fails to control it properly and then shoots wildly over the bar. Koscielny: I’m also looking at you. I’m scratching my head and frowning while I’m looking at you. Now I’m shaking my head. Terrible marking there from the disappointing Frenchman. 8 mins Dortmund look quite fluid between midfield and attack, lots of scampering movement. It is very open, albeit this is partly because Arsenal don’t really know how to defend properly. Arteta has been neither anchoring nor passing so far. He has instead been doing nothing at all. 5 mins Gotze has a nice little attacking jink but it comes to nothing. He looks very clam and aware of what’s around him. And, oh my, Gervinho has a great chance to score, put through in front of the keeper with the ball bouncing a little high, but he makes a right pig’s ear of it and allows Weidenfeller to paw away his weak side foot shank. Although there was a fine challenge from Hummels in there. Gervinho: sorry. You’re probably a nice guy. But somehow you and I both know this just isn’t going to work out, don’t we? 3 mins Walcott is playing quite high up the pitch, presumably to use his acceleration on the break. Gary Naylor writes: “I wish Mikel Arteta well after years of fine service at Goodison. He might need those good wishes too, if he’s holding in midfield – has Arsene seen him play?” Not sure it’s really an “anchor” role. More a deep playmaker and a ball carrier. Song will do the fouling. 1 min Arsenal kick off and they’re on the attack straight away. Walcott finds a bit of space on the right and wins a corner which Big Per rumbles up for, but it’s cleared in frustratingly easy fashion. Already looks like there’s a lot of space out there. I scent goals. 7.44pm: Philippa Booth notes: “also in Group F OM are in an Arsenal-esque bit of trouble in Ligue 1 at the minute, if not worse (3 pts from 5, lying in 17th) and selection issues for DiDi mean that Djimi Traore (yes, him) is at left back while Jeremy Morel (a left back) is promoted to the wing. Could be interesting…” indeed it could. Sort of. About to kick off here. 7.43pm: The players are out. They’re standing there listening to the anthem like it’s a proper anthem. 7.37pm: Paul Merson on the Sky coverage seems strangely jumpy. How excited is it possible to get about these early group stages, even when you’re a drooling fan or Paul Merson? This at least should be a decent game. I’m genuinely curious about Arteta playing for Arsenal. I’m also Dortmund-curious and expecting big things from Gotze. I have it on good authority Germany is currently churning out an alarming excess of really good young players. Compulsory academies: it’s the key. And not the kind of academies where you still get shouted at and told to hoof it but in slightly more expensive surroundings and with isotonic drinks. 7.36pm: Paul Broadwater… Now this is the right kind of email. “Though this will sound like the most unattractive bout of arse kissing ever, Barney, thank you very much despite producing just the preamble so far tonight – some common sense and perspective from a journalist…” and so it goes on for a bit. More of that kind of thing. Note: it’s never unattractive. 7.33pm: Liam Mosley fancies crisis-club Arsenal tonight. “I know Arsenal have hardly set the world alight but the price for them to win 16/5 does seem a bit generous. Dortmund have not met the high standards of last season and are relative novices at this level. Worth the price of a pint surely? Or if you are me two pints.” It’s a loud, angry, swinging kind of ground. Never an easy place to go, the BVB Stadion. And Arsenal have a very open-looking team tonight. They’re not here for a draw. Hello and welcome to live coverage of Arsenal ‘s trip to Borussia Dortmund . It’s a tricky group F opener for crisis club Arsenal (who are not in crisis), their under-pressure manager Arsene Wenger (who is not under pressure) and his end-of-window panic signings (NB all experienced international players) as their season lurches (note: season not lurching) into another calamitous and potentially fatal non-fatal, fairly low-key… well, you get the point. This feels a bit like a game on two levels. On a sensible level it is a very interesting match-up with the youthful German champions, who are coming on a bit like an Arsenal 2.0, all thrusting, prancing ball-playing home made product and a charismatic and innovative coach. On an insensible level this has suddenly become a vital match, for reasons of perception above all. Wenger has become a story. A kind of ersatz pressure is being summoned up out of not that much. And Arsenal desperately need to get to the knockout stages, not for reasons of finance, or to break new ground, or because they’ve got any hope of winning the thing, but to arrest a perception of genuine decline. Of course, there is a bit of decline. A front line of Gervinho, Benayoun, Walcott and Van Persie is so-so, but it’s not what it once was. I like the Arteta signing though: he is a wonderful player, plus it’s a fascinating notion, that he can make the step up to a higher level at 29. Don’t see why not. There are even some things he does better than Fabregas. Also, Mertesacker is a good signing: I believe he will be a triumph. He’s slow apparently, but then so are John Terry, Jamie Carragher, Gary Cahill, Chris Samba and Carlos Puyol. So was Bobby Moore. The idea with a centre half is not to do that much running around in the first place. Anyway, enough ranting. Here are the teams: Borussia Dortmund Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer, Bender, Kehl, Gotze, Kagawa, Grosskreutz, Lewandowski. Subs Langerak, Da Silva, Zidan, Blaszczykowski, Gundogan, Felipe Santana, Perisic. Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Arteta, Walcott, Benayoun, Gervinho, van Persie. Subs Fabianski, Park, Andre Santos, Djourou, Arshavin, Frimpong, Chamakh. Champions League Champions League 2011-12 Arsenal Borussia Dortmund Barney Ronay guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 13, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.