This is obvious.
It’s so blindingly obvious that it will be annoying.
But it has to be said : What we see in the Bundesliga is one German club playing another German club.
Those games gives us no clue about how the best German teams will perform against the top four of the EPL.
Arsenal fielded a scratch side which had never played together.
By the time Wenger puts his best eleven on the pitch, his team might have fallen so far behind in the title race that they might as well concentrate on the Champions League, which is what most of the players do anyway.
In the first half, I was amazed by the chances that Dortmund missed.
Japanese midfielder Kagawa went through one-on-one and blazed over the bar in 9, and Sagna had to kick one off the line from Lewandowski in 12. Without Fabregas and Wilshere, Arsenal could not keep the ball. After 20 minutes the good news was that Dortmund hadn’t scored yet. At the other end, keeper Weidenfeller might have been wondering whether he would have to make another save.
Then skipper Sebastian Kehl made a kamikaze square pass that was five yards short of his teammate, Robin van Persie touched it back to Walcott, got the return and smashed a fierce right foot shot past the keeper. A thunderous finish, an opportunity taken with plenty of panache.
But the chance came from the kind of blunder you rarely see in the Champions League, and certainly not when the score is 0-0.
As the second half went on, Dortmund increasingly pinned Arsenal back into the rear third and pounded them. But they could not find a final ball or a decent shot. I became convinced that they were incapable of scoring, so I reckoned Arsenal were a sure thing to win 1-0. Wow ! Another clean sheet!
I left the room and did not see Frimpong and Andre Santos come on. Then I heard a shout from Mrs Palmer and went back downstairs to see Gibbs head out a free-kick that dropped towards Croatian sub Ivan Perisic, who hopped backwards and volleyed into the top corner to make it 1-1 in 88.
Overall, not the game I expected or the score I expected. I’d been very conservative in suggesting it might be 1-1. Only said that because 1-1 is the kind of scoreline you often get when two clubs really don’t want to lose on Matchday 1
Bayer Leverkusen were not as good as Dortmund, but Chelsea still found it quite difficult for an hour.
Clearly, Abramovich has hired Villas-Boas to make the team younger, more energetic, more flexible and attractive in their style of play, so the new coach emphasises the same points almost every time we see him on TV.
AVB says : We want to play a collective game, the players are doing well to absorb a lot of new ideas. He knows what he wants to see, but we don’t know how soon Chelsea will be able to play his way.
Last night AVB’s secret weapon, David Ruiz, was unleashed. He is a risky, exciting, spectacular gladiator who rides his luck with referees but can be a game-breaker, someone who can make a difference when a match is deadlocked. Essien used to do that.
Luiz showed a forward’s technique when he slammed a low shot round the keeper, after Torres passed square to him in the box. Torres then crossed for Mata to make it 2-0 in 90.
Chelsea’s new style is a work-in-progress and will evolve in the next three months. If it is vibrant enough, they may challenge the Manchester clubs. Beyond saying that, we can’t really comment yet.
Last night was half of Matchday 1.
The events of Barcelona 2 Milan 2 will be much-discussed, but not here, not now.
Manchester United v Chelsea is on Sunday