Ljungberg takes his chance

Ljungberg was on the scoresheet on his return

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Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg was back on target in the Champions League win against Borussia Dortmund - then confessed he was shocked to be selected.

Sweden star Ljungberg has been sidelined since the World Cup after a hip operation, but made a surprise return to score Arsenal's second in the 2-0 win at Highbury.

He had only played one reserve game, but Arsene Wenger's gamble reaped a handsome reward as Arsenal's Champions League campaign got off to a winning start.

Ljungberg said: "I'm delighted we won 2-0 in a game we knew was very difficult.

Ljungberg seals Gunners victory

"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."

Ljungberg insisted Arsenal are capable of improving on the poor away form in Europe they have shown in recent years.

I always thought we would win it

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

He added: "If we just keep on playing like we did today away from home we will get some points."

Wenger said he had no doubts about putting Ljungberg back into the first team.

He said: "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."

Bit of class

Wenger was pleased with the way his side set about breaking down a resilient Dortmund team.

"We were patient and we showed a lot of maturity," he added. "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."