Arteta- Makali ya Van Persie kama ya Messi

ROBIN VAN PERSIE is now right up there with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

That is the level of quality his Arsenal team-mate Mikel Arteta currently sees flowing from the dynamic Dutchman.

Van Persie has helped turn the Gunners' fortunes around this season, with his double against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday ensuring they became the first English club into the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Arsene Wenger's men have booked their place with a game to spare after what was their ninth unbeaten match in a row.

Back in August, when the Londoners were forced to play Udinese in the qualifiers and boss Wenger faced the worst period of his 15 years at the club, that looked unthinkable.

But Van Persie, handed the captain's armband following the departure of Cesc Fabregas, has already netted 17 goals in total this season.

His Premier League tally for 2011 stands at 31 in 29 outings.

He has also shrugged off fears he could break down, following an injury record that had previously restricted him to just 87 league starts in the last five campaigns.

Now Arteta feels the 28-year-old ranks alongside the world's best strikers — the likes of Barcelona star Messi and Real Madrid's Ronaldo.

Spanish midfielder Arteta said: "We all know how good he is. Robin keeps performing and scoring goals.

At the moment he is level with any striker in the world. His numbers are unbelievable in the past eight or nine months.

"For me, it is just such a natural talent. Sometimes he looks as if he does not try but he still beats players and scores an unbelievable goal.

"Robin is on fire. He is making the difference. Hopefully, he can continue to do that and people will keep talking about him all the time. That will mean we are winning."

As Group F winners, Arsenal will now avoid the big guns such as Barca when the Champions League last 16 draw is made on December 9.

Their final group game in Greece against Olympiakos on December 6 only means something to the Greeks.

Arteta admitted: "We did not want to go to Greece having to win and did the business against a really
tough side. It takes a lot of pressure off and there are advantages to being top of the group, which give you a better chance of going further.

"Every team in the Champions League is tough. But if there are any you want to avoid it is Real Madrid and Barcelona."

The Gunners host Fulham tomorrow, aiming for a sixth successive Prem win. But back in September, when they faced Dortmund in Germany, they had slumped to 17th.

It was a period Wenger last week described as 'hell'.

They lost three of their opening five matches, including the astonishing 8-2 thrashing at Manchester United, and Wenger also had to cope with the exit of stars Fabregas and Samir Nasri. But since the 1-1 draw in Dortmund, Arsenal have notched up 11 wins in 14 matches.

Arteta added: "We are trying to improve the team and have been in a really good run over the past two months.

"But we're still catching up on other sides in the Premier League. We had a really bad start. There is still a lot to do."