Lethal Ljungberg clinches it

Arsenal 2 Borussia Dortmund 0

Ljungberg, who was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up so soon after his summer hip operation, clinched victory with 12 minutes left after Dennis Bergkamp had earlier put the Gunners ahead. Wenger was unashamedly optimistic about his team’s chances of winning the competition this season, despite having failed to progress past the quarter-finals in the past four seasons. He wrote in his programme notes: ‘‘I have said we will the Champions League. I think there is a lot of hypocrisy and superstition attached to football, but I don’t go into a competition not to win it.

‘‘Everybody else perhaps thinks they will win it but they don’t say it. But I will say it, because I’m convinced we can win it. The desire is there and the experience is there so we can give it everything and go and win it.’’