Klopp praises Van Persie

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has given Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie a glowing report card.

Klopp said Van Persie was one of Europe’s best after the striker scored twice in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over the Bundesliga outfit in the Champions League on Wednesday.

An injury-time goal from Shinji Kagawa did little to change the course of the game at the Emirates after the Dutchman’s double had given the Gunners a two-goal lead as he made it 33 goals in his last 30 games to send the hosts through to the knockout stage from Group F.

The 44-year-old German coach praised Van Persie after the clash, telling UEFA.com: “He is certainly one of the best in Europe. What a performance, what a player.”

“I have hardly ever seen a player who plays so deep in midfield and then is such a danger in the box.”

Klopp was satisfied with his own side’s performance, but lamented their inability to keep their focus for the whole game.

“We had some really good moments in this match, but obviously we made a couple of pretty bad mistakes,” he said.

“Our good spells were right at the beginning of both halves and we had some great chances.”

“But we also made it too easy on our opponent at times. We played well on the wings and we had a couple of crosses, but there was just nobody on the other end.”

“We took the right measures, but Arsenal have an amazing home record in the Champions League and they would not get that without being a really great side.”

Klopp then conceded that injuries to Mario Gotze and Sven Bender forced him to modify his plans and made things much harder for Dortmund.

“We had to make some awkward changes and that is when sporting matters are not so important anymore,” he added.

“Gotze’s knee seems to be alright, but Sven Bender broke his jaw and needs surgery here in London. When you have to replace two important players early on in the match, it is difficult for any team.”

The defeat sees Dortmund slump to fourth in Group F, with the Bundesliga champions needing to beat Olympique Marseille by a four-goal margin and hope Arsenal defeat Olympiakos in order to progress to the last 16.

“We are not out, we have to win by a big score and rely on Arsenal to help us,” Klopp said.

“We will definitely not give up, we know we have to play well against Marseille, but they are under big pressure themselves.”

“Everything has happened in football and we will be ready; I do not know what will happen, but we will be ready.”