UEFA Champions League Reaction

Arsenal 2-0 Borussia Dortmund

Freddie Ljungberg admitted he was surprised to be named in Arsenal's starting line-up against Borussia Dortmund - but was overjoyed to have marked the occasion with a goal. The Sweden international has been on the sidelines since the World Cup after a hip operation and was not expected to start at Highbury tonight with just one reserve game under his belt. But boss Arsene Wenger's gamble paid off handsomely as first a deflected Dennis Bergkamp shot and then Ljungberg's goal gave the Gunners a 2-0 win to get their Champions League campaign off to a flying start.

Ljungberg told ITV2: ``I'm delighted we won 2-0 in a game we knew was very difficult.

``Of course, I just trained all week and hadn't played so it was a bit of a surprise to play from the beginning.

``At the end of the game you can run - it doesn't matter if you're tired. I thought before the game I would last 60 minutes. I was delighted - it's nice to play football.''

 

And Ljungberg insisted Arsenal are capable of improving on their poor recent away form in Europe.

He added: ``If we just keep on playing like we did today away from home we will get some points.'' Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was pleased with the way his side set about breaking down a resilient Dortmund team. He said: ``We were patient and we showed a lot of maturity. We saw the team has learned a lot.

``We always looked like scoring. It was a case of not conceding a stupid goal and I always thought we would win it. `

`They didn't give us any space and they were highly concentrated on defending well. We needed to find that bit of class and space to score a goal.

``We can always score goals with the pace we have on the pitch with the outstanding quality of the players on the pitch.''

The Frenchman revealed he was always confident Ljungberg was ready for a return to the first team.

He said: ``In fairness he worked so hard with our fitness coach so he was ready physically. The only gamble was how would he be in the game and knowing the motivation of Freddie that was okay.''

 

Valencia 2-0 Liverpool

A stunned Gerard Houllier admitted that his shattered Liverpool stars were angry with themselves after their disastrous Champions League opening defeat in Valencia. Houllier witnessed his side being outplayed as they lost 2-0 in Group B.

``My players are angry with themselves after that performance,'' said Houllier.

``They are in the dressing room not happy at all with what happened.'' He added: ``I knew this would be the hardest game for us in the group, they were just better than us on the night.

``I was disappointed because we never saw the true Liverpool out there.

``Valencia were more experienced. They have a steady, settled side and they have just won their title. ``They are a very, very good side. They played better than us and deserved to win.''

 

Houllier started the game without European Footballer of the Year Michael Owen, and Valencia boss Rafael Benitez said: ``We certainly expected to see Owen, he is part of the power of Liverpool.

``But I would not criticise them for what they did, we expected (Emile) Heskey and we had to face him. Their coach must have had his reasons.

``But I expect Liverpool to hit back from this, they will stand up and fight because they are a great team.''

Houllier explained: ``I felt it was going to be a physical battle so that is why I started with Heskey up front and (El Hadji) Diouf just behind him.

``But the system didn't work as well as I had hoped.

``We looked shaky in defence, and we were not as bright in midfield and we could have done better up front.

``All that together is why we lost. It was a day off from the office.''

On Dietmar Hamann's red card, Houllier said: ``It was very unfortunate.

``He had been fouled and managed to get entangled with his opponent.

``There was nothing malicious or harmful about what he did.''