The jury may still be out for many Arsenal fans over the future of
coach Arsenal Wenger but few can argue about the Frenchman leading the
Londoners to the Champions League knockout stages for a 15th consecutive year.
He
achieved his latest qualification after goals from Yaya Sanogo, his first for
the club at the 19th attempt, and Alexis Sanchez secured a 2-0 home win over
Borussia Dortmund.
Dortmund's
compatriots Bayer Leverkusen and Spaniards Atletico Madrid also made it through
to the Last 16 on Wednesday. Continue..
Read: Messi breaks Champions
League goalscoring record
"It's
not easy to be consistent so I am very proud of that," Wenger said after
the game.
"The
club deserves a lot of credit."
The problem in many Arsenal
supporters' eyes is that the fine record merely papers over cracks that may
well be exposed when the Last 16 kicks off in February.
The Gunners, who have never won
the competition but who finished runners-up in 2006, have failed to reach the
quarterfinals in each of the last four seasons -- losing to Bayern Munich
(twice), Milan and Barcelona.
Compounding
this frustration is the fact that the side has seldom impressed in the Premier
League, with Wenger last finishing in the top two in 2005.
On
Tuesday, he may have been conscious that he was taking on the man often touted
as a leading contender to replace him at the Emirates -- Dortmund coach Jurgen
Klopp.
Victory
against a side that had already secured qualification came at a familiar cost
though, with both Sanogo and midfielder Mikel Arteta going off with injuries.
Little
surprise then that Wenger was hoping for some positives, following a season in
which key players like Olivier Giroud, Jack Wilshere and goalkeeper Wojciech
Szczesny have all been forced onto the sidelines.
"From
now until February we must improve as a team, get encouragement from this win
and hopefully have more players back," Wenger added.
In Group
D's other game, Anderlecht won their first match of the campaign when beating
ten-man Galatasaray 2-0, with Chancel Mbemba netting both goals.
Having
ended Dortmund's 100% record, Arsenal have an outside chance of now finishing
top of the group -- providing they win in Galatasaray, and Dortmund trip up at
home to Anderlecht -- and so avoiding the heavyweights in the next round.
Bundesliga
Blowout
That was
precisely what Bayer Leverkusen were hoping to do but they capped off
a record week for German sides -- albeit for the wrong reasons.
They lost
1-0 at home to Monaco which, in addition to Dortmund's defeat and those of both
Bayern Munich and Schalke on Tuesday, meant Germany's four Champions League
entrants all lost in the same week for the first time ever.
Monaco
scored with their only effort on target, just as they did when hosting
Leverkusen in September, and Group C is still wide open -- with three sides
capable of going through.
Leverkusen still managed to
ensure progress on Wednesday but their nine points are now only one better than
Monaco's, while Zenit St Petersburg -- who beat Benfica 1-0 -- have moved onto
seven.
Meanwhile,
last season's beaten finalists Atletico Madrid created their own slice of history
when progressing from the group stage in consecutive years for the first time
ever.
A Mario
Mandzukic hat-trick helped them to a 4-0 victory over Olympiakos and the
Spaniards will qualify top of Group A unless they lose heavily in Juventus next
month.
The
Italians need a draw to progress after winning 2-0 in Sweden against Malmo,
with Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez earning Juve's first away win in the
group stage for two years.
Perfect
Start
Defending
champions Real Madrid are still the only side in the
competition with a 100% record after Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in Switzerland
was enough to a earn a 1-0 win over Basel.
The
victory was the fifteenth in a row for Carlo Ancelotti's side, so equaling
Real's best runs, achieved in the 1960-61 season under Miguel Munoz and three
seasons ago under Jose Mourinho.
Victory
away to Malaga in La Liga on Saturday will create a new record.
In Group
B's other game, Liverpool stopped a run of four consecutive defeats but still
had to settle for a 2-2 draw away to Ludogorets.
The
Bulgarians scored late to deny the five-time champions all three points, but
the equalizer changed little -- with Liverpool still needing to beat Basel at
Anfield next month to go through.
Ludogorets
are the only side that Liverpool have scored against in the group, whereas
Ronaldo, who has now netted in his last 12 away Champions League games, has struck
against every team.
In a
statistic Arsenal fans may want to shy away from, the Portuguese has scored 43
Champions League goals since the start of the 2011-12 season -- precisely the
same tally as that boasted by Wenger's Arsenal in the same period.
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