Wenger: Arsenal maturity paid dividends

Kamis, 07 November 2013

Jürgen Klopp, Dortmund coach

I told the team afterwards what everyone who watched the match saw for themselves: we didn’t reward ourselves for the work we put into this game. Losing was unnecessary, but we haven’t lost our hopes yet and everything is still possible as long as we win our two remaining games.

It’s definitely going to get exciting from now on. There are a few mistakes that we made today. We didn’t score a goal, then we conceded the opener from Arsenal’s first shot on target and then things got a bit wild on the pitch.

Football is a sport based on results. Arsenal had their first chance in the 62nd minute and scored. It feels unjust but we have to accept it. We had a lot of great moments in the game, but failed to create good chances from them. We weren’t able to find a player in space a lot of the time, as Arsenal were quick on their feet and defended well.

No one should be disappointed with the performance of the team. They actually managed to do a lot of things right. The good news is that we can still qualify for the next round with two victories from the final two games. We know this won’t be easy, but we believe in our chances. It’s possible and knowing that is enough for us.

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager

I was pleased with our focus tonight. We were under pressure from first minute to last but we didn’t make any mistakes and defended well. We were compact and worked together and although there was a difficult period in the first half we put in a very mature performance.

I was concerned that there was a long way to go at 1-0 but we could have made it two. We had some good chances. We knew at half-time it was about keeping our focus and letting our technical ability win the game, which is what happened.

Our defence was under a lot of pressure but they showed good awareness and tactical ability and that gives us a big lift. Not many teams come here and win.