[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Matchday 3] Arsenal takes a 12-game unbeaten streak into its UEFA Champions League clash with 2013 runner-up Borussia Dortmund, having
opened up a two-point lead in the English Premier League and won its first two Champions League group stage matches. Arsenal's new star, German
Mesut Ozil, says
the Gunners have a lot going for them against Dortmund, a team he knows well.
Last season with Real Madrid, Ozil faced Dortmund four times, losing both times in Germany, tying at home in
the group stage and winning, 2-0, at home in the semifinals, a result that was not enough to overcome the 4-1 loss in the first leg.
He can't wait to face Dortmund again for two
reasons.
"Firstly, a lot of good friends of mine play in the Dortmund team," he said. "I look forward to meeting them in Champions League. Secondly, even if it did not run perfectly for
Real against Dortmund, I scored or set up a goal in nearly every game against a German side, that gives me a good feeling. Moreover, we play the first game in London. That's an advantage."
The two wins to open group play put Arsenal in a good position to advance to the knockout stage for the 14th straight year, but Ozil says the job is not done yet.
"Arsenal have shown
their strength in the past, and now we have ripened," he said. "We are aware of our class. If we can show that, we could have nine points after three games."
Arsenal is coming off a 4-1
win over Norwich City on Saturday. Ozil scored twice but the goal of a game came from
Jack Wilshire off passes from
Santi
Cazorla and
Olivier Giroud.
“I've got to praise the three players involved for the first goal,” Ozil told arsenal.com. “It
was real 'tiki taka' -- almost like they were playing PlayStation. It was an unbelievable goal.”
Ozil, who has scored goals in four of his five games in October for Arsenal and
Germany, says he and his Arsenal teammates can still improve.
"We know what we can do," he said, "but we won't get carried away. We just enjoy playing and it shows on the pitch."
The Arsenal fans, who clamored for a high-profile signing, are happy the club signed Ozil.
"It was an emotional experience for me [hearing the fans chanting his name]," he said
after the Norwich game. "I had goosebumps when I heard. I'm so thankful to the fans, who have supported both myself and the whole team."
UCL SCHEDULE:
Tuesday FOX SPORTS 1 AC MILAN-BARCELONA (live) 2:30 pm.
FOX SPORTS 2 SCHALKE-CHELSEA (live) 2:30 pm.
ARSENAL-BORUSSIA DORTMUND (delay) 8
pm.
FOX SOCCER PLUS ARSENAL-BORUSSIA DORTMUND (live) 2:30 pm.
AC MILAN-BARCELONA (delay) 5 pm.
SCHALKE-CHELSEA (delay) 8 pm.
CELTIC-AJAX (delay) 10 pm.
FOX DEPORTES AC MILAN-BARCELONA (live) 2:30 pm.
ARSENAL-BORUSSIA DORTMUND (delay) 5 pm.
MARSEILLE-NAPOLI (delay) 7 pm.
UCL
SCHEDULE: Wednesday FOX SPORTS 1 CSKA MOSCOW-MANCHESTER CITY (live) Noon.
MANCHESTER UNITED-REAL SOCIEDAD (live) 2:30 pm.
FOX SPORTS 2
REAL MADRID-JUVENTUS (live) 2:30 pm.
FOX SOCCER PLUS BAYERN MUNICH-VIKTORIA PLZEN (live) 2:30 pm.
MANCHESTER UNITED-REAL SOCIEDAD (delay) 5 pm.
REAL
MADRID-JUVENTUS (delay) 10 pm.
CSKA MOSCOW-MANCHESTER CITY (delay) Midnight.
FOX DEPORTES CSKA MOSCOW-MANCHESTER CITY (live) noon.
REAL MADRID-JUVENTUS (live)
2:30 pm.
MANCHESTER UNITED-REAL SOCIEDAD (delay) 5 pm.