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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; What a difference a month has made for manager Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first night of Matchday Two may not have had the drama of a fortnight\u00A0ago, but the groups are beginning to shape up. The night\u2019s biggest winner was\u00A0Arsenal, who coasted past Napoli, while Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund also\u00A0got their campaigns back on track. We also saw Barcelona struggle without\u00A0Lionel Messi. Here are the stories that caught our eye:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Party time for Arsene Wenger&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seventeen years to the day Arsene Wenger officially began his career as\u00A0Arsenal coach -- a few months after London paper the &lt;em&gt;Evening Standard&lt;/em&gt;\u00A0infamously unveiled its \u2018Arsene Who?\u2019 headline (when he stayed in Japan to\u00A0finish his contract) -- Arsenal took control of Champions League Group F\u2019s\u00A0Group of Death with a clinical demolition of high-flying Napoli.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Its 2-0 win over a team that was previously unbeaten this season -- though\u00A0missing center forward Gonzalo Higuain with a calf injury -- saw Wenger\u2019s\u00A0philosophy come to life as, in the first half at least, it played football\u00A0as breathtaking as at any time in the previous 17 years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And to think that just a few months back, the Arsenal fan base was split\u00A0between those who wanted a change in the dugout and those who still\u00A0believed that \u2018Arsene Knows.' Rather than celebrating 17 years, the most\u00A0significant anniversary to mark at the Emirates was one month: It was only\u00A0on Sept. 1 that Mesut \u00D6zil joined Arsenal for \u00A342.5m and, in no time,\u00A0helped galvanize the club.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arsenal\u2019s first four league goals after the transfer were all made by \u00D6zil, and it was the German\u00A0who broke the deadlock against Napoli after eight minutes, masterfully\u00A0drilling home Aaron Ramsey\u2019s cross from the edge of the area after a\u00A0brilliant move initiated by Olivier Giroud. Seven minutes later, \u00D6zil was at it\u00A0again, jinking into space down the right for Giroud to tap home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the wonderful \u2018Wizard of \u00D6zil\u2019 was lighting up the game, his backing cast\u00A0was rather impressive too. Arsenal may have only spent money on one signing\u00A0this summer, but Mathieu Flamini, a free transfer, was outstanding. And\u00A0while the preseason gags suggested Abou Diaby would be hailed as \u2018like\u00A0a new signing,\u2019 it has in fact been Aaron Ramsey who has surpassed expectations\u00A0(maybe not Wenger\u2019s) and become indispensable to this team. So much so that\u00A0Jack Wilshere, the talisman last season\u2019s team was built around,\u00A0started this game on the bench. And Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott were both\u00A0out injured.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And what of Giroud, the striker who yesterday celebrated his 27th birthday\u00A0by watching \"Gladiator\"? On the day of the game, he admitted the pressure\u00A0of replacing Robin van Persie had affected him last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWhen I started,\u00A0my finishing was off and I played as stiff as a stick,\u201D Giroud told France\u00A0Football. \u201CAs I won my place, I played with the handbrake off a little\u00A0more.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Giroud also suggested there was more to his game than goals. He proved\u00A0as much with his crucial role in that first goal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CPeople will now\u00A0say that it is easier to score for Arsenal now \u00D6zil is there,\" Giroud said. \"And when\u00A0Giroud scored it will be because \u00D6zil was there. But Giroud, he was already\u00A0scoring before \u00D6zil arrived.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arsenal was helped by a woeful Napoli performance in the first half. It was\u00A0wearing a camouflage kit, and too many players went missing, especially Camilo\u00A0Zuniga, the left back who was AWOL for both goals just one day after\u00A0celebrating (maybe too much?) a new contract with Napoli to keep\u00A0interest from Juventus and Barcelona at bay. With a \u20AC35m buy-out clause, I can't\u00A0imagine those two clubs will ask again for him anytime soon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The subplot to this game, indeed this period in Arsenal\u2019s history, is that\u00A0Wenger\u2019s contract expires at the end of this season, and there is the feeling\u00A0that he is assessing his team before deciding whether to stay or not --\u00A0despite him saying last week that he \u201Cwanted to stay forever\u201D. If Arsenal\u00A0continues to hit the heights of this performance, Wenger might want to stick\u00A0around and whisper it quietly. Could Arsenal's eight-year trophy drought be\u00A0coming to an end?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BERLIN: Top of the table Arsenal look like they believe in themselves&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Mourinho ends Mata exile&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That didn't last long, did it? Less than a week after Jose Mourinho said\u00A0that Oscar was his first-choice No. 10, the Chelsea coach restored Juan\u00A0Mata to that position for the Blues\u2019 crucial 3-0 win at Steaua Bucharest.\u00A0Mata played a role in Chelsea\u2019s first goal in which Ramires toe-poked a\u00A0Samuel Eto\u2019o flick into the goal to ensure a happier return to Romania after\u00A0last season\u2019s 1-0 Europa League defeat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ramires added a booming third from Oscar\u2019s pass to cap a fine night for\u00A0Chelsea made better by FC Basel's 1-0 loss at home to Schalke. Julien Draxler's volley for the outside for the lone goal in that contest may have been the\u00A0goal of the night. Schalke's win\u00A0was held up as Greenpeace activists abseiled down stands and onto the pitch\u00A0protesting against UEFA sponsors Gazprom. Given that Basel is bidding to\u00A0host matches at EURO 2020, the repercussions could be severe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mourinho also\u00A0used the trip to catch up with old friends. He met former Inter Milan\u00A0defender Cristian Chivu on the afternoon of the game but had a request to\u00A0visit Steaua owner Gigi Becali in a Bucharest jail turned down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI can\u2019t\u00A0have him seeing me like this!\u201D exclaimed Becali.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Greenpeace activists briefly delayed the Schalke's 1-0 win over FC Basel when they abseiled from the stadium roof. (Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Barcelona wins, but goalkeepers dominate&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lionel Messi missed Barcelona's trip to Celtic, and the Spanish champion\u00A0struggled to break down the host at Celtic Park. This was the big chance for\u00A0Neymar to shine in Messi's absence, but it didn't quite work out like that.\u00A0Neymar proved to be a key player in the game, drawing the fury of home fans\u00A0for making the most of a kick on him from Scott Brown for which the Celtic\u00A0captain was sent off. Despite the exaggerated response, it was still a kick\u00A0and red was the right decision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Celtic, with ten men, managed to frustrate Barcelona for almost 20 more\u00A0minutes before Neymar and Alexis combined for Cesc Fabregas to head home the\u00A0winner. One minute earlier, Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes had kept the\u00A0scores level with a fantastic save from James Forrest before Charlie Mulgrew\u00A0grazed the crossbar.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was the late saves from Fraser Forster that marked this match. The\u00A0goalkeeper has been called up by England coach Roy Hodgson in the past but\u00A0never selected. With concern growing about the form of Joe Hart, it might be\u00A0an interesting time to give him a chance. On the opposite side, Valdes has\u00A0confirmed he is leaving Barcelona next summer, and it is looking for a new keeper.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Far Post: Messi in Kolkata: The gods of football visit India&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Time to take Atletico Madrid seriously&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If Napoli failed to live up to expectations on Matchday Two, the same cannot\u00A0be said of Atletico Madrid. The Spanish side is seven-for-seven in La Liga\u00A0and even without top scorer Diego Costa, was able to overturn a 1-0 deficit\u00A0at Porto to win 2-1. This was a significant victory, not just because it\u00A0broke a 74-game unbeaten home record for Porto.\nDiego Simeone could be forgiven for his celebrations when Arda Turan scored a\u00A0smart winner three minutes from time. The free-kick routine was clearly made\u00A0in Argentina, a replica of the 1998 World Cup second-round goal that Javier\u00A0Zanetti scored against England. Gabi bypassed the wall and slipped a pass out\u00A0wide to Turan, who had time to turn and smash the ball past Helton. Porto had\u00A0more shots and more possession, but once again Atletico came out on top. This\u00A0is a team that can go a long way this season.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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