Borussia Dortmund Fail to Impress in Champions League Defeat at Arsenal

Borussia Dortmund must have forgotten they were playing in Europe on Tuesday when they showed up at the Emirates Stadium in London and simply rolled over to a determined Arsenal side by two goals to nil. 

The Champions League had been Jurgen Klopp's one respite from headaches and constant failure this season, with four wins and 13 goals from their first four games, yet Arsene Wenger's side needed a win on the night and simply made sure they picked up all three points. 

The game itself did offer some purpose to Dortmund. It was a showdown between Group D's top two clubs to see which could end up finishing top of table, yet in truth the Bundesliga side never looked too interested in extending themselves beyond first gear.

The finalists of this famous competition two years ago simply showed up with little intention of doing much else and subsequently lost the game.

When we take a look at the graphic below, a passing diagram from Squawka, it shows just how poor Gundogan was when asked to push up the park and make that key pass in the final third. 

Squawka

The central midfielder proved to be perfectly adequate at sitting in the midfield hole and playing the ball from left to right, yet as we see from the red passes on the graphic, the Dortmund player really struggled to attack with any precision.

The German international simply didn't look like himself on the night, nor has he since returning from injury.

The old Gundogan, who used to sprint from box to box with all the skill and technique to elude any midfield or defensive combo, looks long gone, at least until Klopp can get him back to peak fitness. 

Klopp will take issue with the fact that his side should have tested the Arsenal defence a lot more, considering they were playing with a back line consisting of full-back Nacho Monreal in the centre of defence. A lot of this will have been down to Gundogan's reluctance to get forward with any consistency. 

Such a performance from the central midfielder perfectly characterised this Dortmund side who simply didn't look up for the game on Tuesday night.

They were second to every ball, uncommitted in the tackles and lazy in their passes; Klopp's side simply asked their opponents to take advantage of it and Arsenal duly obliged. 

Yet the charismatic coach will be furious over so much more than just a few lazy midfielders. 

Dortmund may have failed to attack Arsenal with all the intimidation and skill that they clearly possess, yet even when they did manage to make their way into the final third, their star forwards didn't show up to take their chances.

The key instigator of suck lacklustre composure in front of Damian Martinez's goal was Armenian attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has continued to offer very little in terms of goals for Klopp's team this season.

The 25-year-old has long since passed his allocated time to settle at the Bundesliga side, yet has struggled to score despite plenty of opportunities to do so in both the domestic championship and Champions League this season. 

According to transfermrkt, Mkhitaryan had already scored four goals and created five assists for his new side by this point last season. This year we are still waiting for him to reach three goals in 16 appearances for the club. 

Like Gundogan, the attacking midfielder simply didn't look fit or nearly sharp enough to be playing in such a game and often allowed Dortmund's plays to fizzle out through a poor pass or horrendous shot on his part. For a player who was signed by the club as a goalscoring midfielder, he certainly isn't putting enough of his chances in the back of the net. 

Klopp will, of course, have to shoulder some of the blame for this result. His decision to start a barely fit Marcel Schmelzer over Erik Durn at left-back would have baffled a number of fans, with the remainder struggling to justify his move after the 90 minutes.

Similarly, the coach's decision to stand by Matthias Ginter at centre-half is quickly beginning to reach the level of a joke, with the young defender once again struggling to step up to the demands of his new club.

Yaya Sanogo—a running joke among Arsenal and opposition fans alike before Tuesday's game—managed to lose the defender for the first goal and almost scored a second moments later when the young German played him onside, a few yards behind the rest of his back-line. 

Such incompetence echoed throughout the defence on the night, allowing the likes of Neven Subotic and Lukasz Piszczek to lose their game and look just as lost against Arsenal's attackers.

Dortmund simply didn't show up on the night, but Klopp will worry about some of the individual performances that he's seen far too often this season. 

@Sbienkowski