Hector Bellerin 'Eager for More Arsenal Opportunities' After Chastening Champions League Debut

Hector Bellerin has underlined his intention to challenge for more opportunities in the Arsenal first team after his baptism of fire against Borussia Dortmund.

The 19-year-old Spaniard was called upon to fill in on the right-hand side of Arsenal's defence in the absence of Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers, who were ruled out through injury and illness respectively.

But the Gunners found themselves overrun by a rampant Dortmund side in their opening Champions League Group D clash, where they were perhaps lucky to escape with just a 2-0 defeat.

"They came out with so much tempo at the start with their quick players up front," Bellerin told Arsenal's official website. "We tried to start the game with the same tempo as them but we couldn't and that is something we need to work on for our next game.

"But it was a dream come true for me tonight. It is always your dream as a kid to make your debut in the Champions League. On the other hand, I'm gutted and we've just got to work harder in the next game."

After impressing in the Gunners' Under-21 side, Bellerin can perhaps count himself unlucky to have been thrown into the deep end at the Westfalenstadion on 16 September.

But with Debuchy possibly facing three months out injured and Chambers being Arsenal's first reserve at centre-half, the youngster is likely to be granted his wish for more opportunities in the coming weeks.

"[Playing first-team football] is what I want to be doing every weekend," he said. "It is good to get minutes with the under-21s but what you are here for is to play games with the first team. It was a really hard game but I'm glad I got to play here and hopefully there [are] more games to come."

Arsenal face a run of five games in 15 days across three competitions beginning on Saturday 20 September with a testing trip to second-placed Aston Villa.