Arsenal's Van Persie hailed as 'one of best in Europe'

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager
He [Robin van Persie] is in a period where he doesn't have to look for goals, they just come naturally for him, and he's always in the right place at the right moment. He got two again tonight from positions where it looks easy, but it's not easy, because he understands the game so well. Overall it was a good game.

Dortmund are a good team. They started stronger than we did, we needed to be patient, intelligent, and I think in the second half we were able to increase the tempo of our passing and control the game. They scored at the end because we lost concentration, but overall our defence played well.

We were in a difficult group and I'm very pleased when you see where we came from, when we played in the qualifying round. Overall I'm very happy because we've come through a difficult period. We are focused, we are united and we work hard together.

The fact that we are the first English team to qualify is great. You never win an easy game in the Champions League. I've played 150 games as a manager and every single one gives you a different problem; it's always difficult to beat a team in the Champions League.

At the moment I believe Robin van Persie is an exceptional player. He takes advantage of our attacking style. I don't deny though that he is the one scoring all the goals; I hope we can keep him for a long time. He is completely dedicated; it is not always obvious to put a striker as captain but he is exceptional.

Jürgen Klopp, Dortmund coach
We had some really good moments in this match, but obviously we made a couple of pretty bad mistakes. 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 had to make some awkward changes [due to injuries to Mario Götze and Sven Bender] and that's when sporting matters are not so important anymore. Götze'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's difficult for any team.

But Robin van Persie, wow, what a performance, what a player. He's certainly one of the best in Europe. I've hardly ever seen a player who plays so deep in midfield and then is such a danger in the box.

We were not direct enough. We played well on the wings and we had a couple of crosses, but there was just nobody on the other end; so we took the right measures, but Arsenal have an amazing home record in the Champions League and they wouldn't get that without being a really great side.

We are not out, we have to win by a big score and rely on Arsenal to help us. This team is ready to take any chance. We will definitely not give up, we know we have to play well against Marseille, but they are under big pressure themselves. Again, everything has happened in football and we will be ready; I don't know what will happen, but we will be ready.