'Play like that against Dortmund and you're dead' - Arteta rues poor Arsenal performance

Posted Wednesday, September 17, 2014 by Goal.com

The midfielder says the Gunners were sloppy in their defeat to Jurgen Klopp's side and simply did not perform well enough to win their Champions League opener

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta rued his side's performance after the Gunners slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

The Gunners handed 19-year-old Hector Bellerin a full debut for the clash, due to Mathieu Debuchy's injury, but Arsene Wenger's side were well beaten by Jurgen Klopp's men.

Ciro Immobile opened the scoring for the hosts before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled their lead in the second half.

Arteta admitted that Dortmund were the better team and says conceding the first goal right on the strike of half-time made their task almost impossible.

"We faced a top side, one of the most difficult stadiums in Europe," Arteta told Sky Sports.

"We knew that from the start, they put us under pressure, it was very sloppy from us to concede the goal with 20 seconds to go in the first half.

"After you go 1-0 down here it's very difficult, they're very good on the break. We didn't perform well enough tonight.

"We couldn't cope with them. We gave the ball away too many times in our own half in difficult positions. When you do that against this side you are dead. They were the better side tonight."

Arsenal's next game in the competition comes against Galatasaray on October 1, a match that is sandwiched between Premier League games against Tottenham and Chelsea.