Arsene Wenger isn’t a fan of the opening round of the Champions League.

And it apparently has nothing to do with being forced to watch from home after Arsenal missed out on this year’s edition of the lucrative club competition.

Wenger, whose Arsenal side failed to qualify for the first time in 19 seasons following the north London team’s fifth place finish last term, now claims that the Champions League group stage has lost its lustre and that there’s only a couple of matches worth watching.

“I think that in the group stage, there are not many interesting games,” Wenger told reporters, according to The Telegraph’s Jonathan Liew. “You choose (to watch) only one or two games.

“It’s a routine now, the Champions League, in the group stage. Look at the audiences. It has lost some attraction power.”

Arsenal enjoyed years of success in the opening stage of the competition but struggled in the knockout round, where the Premier League side was infamously eliminated in seven successive seasons, including last year’s embarrassing 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich.

Despite his criticism, Wenger admitted that he misses the excitement of competing in the tournament but stopped short of drawing comparisons to the second-tier Europa League as his side gets prepared to clash with BATE Borisov on Thursday.

“Honestly, yes,” Wenger responded when asked if he missed the Champions League. “But I must say, I have had nearly 200 games in the Champions League, so I can feel privileged.”

Arsenal will look to secure its second win of the Europa League group stage during a trip to Belarus after winning the opening tie 3-1 over FC Koln.

Miguel Maduro was removed as chairman of FIFA’s Governance Committee in May, two months after he refused Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s deputy prime minister, clearance to stand again for the FIFA Council. Ethical concerns about the removal remain.

On Wednesday, during an appearance at the United Kingdom’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Maduro claimed that Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, personally argued with him over the decision to refuse Mutko.

Maduro asserted that FIFA’s Governance Committee was implementing FIFA’s own rule of being politically neutral and keeping national associations free from government interference, but Infantino argued that the rule shouldn’t apply to Mutko. The Portuguese politician said that Fatma Samouza, FIFA’s secretary general, along with Tomaz Vesel, the chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee, then flew to Brussels and called him to say that FIFA’s president had asked him to leave.

“The secretary general made it clear (the Mutko decision) was extremely problematic and we needed to find a solution to declare Mr. Mutko eligible,” Maduro said, according to the Guardian’s David Conn. “She said that the World Cup would be a disaster and that as a consequence the continued presidency (of Infantino) would be in question.”

Maduro declared that he was “very clear” in his response, saying that FIFA’s Governance Committee was following the rules on being politically neutral and exercising independent judgment. Infantino subsequently sent an email to the committee to uphold its conclusion, arguing that the rule was being misapplied.

“The president expressed great concern with that decision,” Maduro stated.

When asked about Infantino’s attitude, the reforms, and whether he believed that his stance on Mutko led to his removal, Maduro answered by saying that he “never talked” to FIFA’s president again, and told the MPs in attendance of how football’s governing body is “extremely resistant to independent scrutiny, transparency, and accountability.”

The over 60,000 in attendance at Wembley Stadium couldn’t have found a better way to spend their Wednesday night.

Specifically Tottenham supporters that is, who witnessed their side produce a rare win in the national team’s stadium after edging past Borussia Dortmund 3-1 during the Group H encounter.

But, for both sets of fans, and neutrals alike, it was a match that was loaded with end-to-end action. For almost every moment Dortmund pressured Tottenham and looked poised to score, Spurs, somehow, came away with the ball and mounted a dangerous counter-attack.

However, there were plenty of mistakes that added to the excitement. Whether it was poor marking or a missed foul call, the gaffes helped the contest stand out as the most exciting spectacle from Matchday 1.

Here’s a rundown of the lapses in judgment that helped fuel the buzz at Wembley Stadium:

Referee and linesman suffer temporary blindness

In what he later described as one of his best goals, Harry Kane could have easily been stopped in his tracks for a pair of perceived fouls en route to giving Tottenham a 2-1 advantage in the first half.

The English forward muscled his way past a pair of Dortmund defenders, but there were genuine questions as to whether he should have been called for dropping Nuri Sahin and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. But it was the contact with Sokratis that appeared to be the more blatant of the two, as Kane dragged the Greek defender down from behind before breaking free on goal and delivering a fierce, left-footed finish.

Related – Watch: Yarmolenko, Kane trade golazos in frenetic start at Wembley

Dortmund was later denied an equaliser when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was adjudged to be offside. Yet, replays show the Gabon forward was well within his right to lodge a complaint to the match official.

It was Tottenham who felt aggrieved late in the match when Jan Vertonghen was sent packing after picking up his second yellow for a foul on Mario Gotze.

Perhaps it was Gotze’s reaction that forced the official’s hand, as he tumbled to the ground in pain, but it’s difficult to presume there was much malice as Vertonghen’s attempt to shield the ball saw him inadvertently make contact with the German’s face.

Burki’s nightmare

Roman Burki’s first Champions League encounter in a Dortmund shirt was one to forget.

The hosts needed just four minutes to break the deadlock when Heung-Min Son charged down the wing and fired Tottenham into the lead. But questions over Burki’s positioning have to be asked as the Swiss goalkeeper failed to properly cover his near post.

In what was almost a carbon copy, Kane found himself in a similar position just over 10 minutes later. Last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner took a page out of Son’s book and launched his strike into the roof of the net.

Dembele briefly loses the plot

Andriy Yarmolenko couldn’t have asked for a better way to open his scoring account at Borussia Dortmund.

Less than a month after his move from Dynamo Kyiv, Yarmolenko sent the away section into a frenzy with a gorgeous, curling strike that found its way into the top corner of goal to bring Dortmund level following Son’s opener.

But it was a rare moment of lackluster defending from Mousa Dembele that helped Yarmolenko carve out a path and create enough space to unleash his shot, as the Belgian appeared to completely lose his marker in the seconds before the equaliser.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)