Mallorca closed ranks to somehow see off wave upon wave of attacks with Thierry Henry twice denied.

Henry then sidefooted a great chance wide before Dennis Bergkamp's marvellous chip shot fell the wrong side of a post.

Bergkamp also believed he deserved a penalty when brought down by Miguel Nadal before Robert Pires' crashing volley was closed down in the last few minutes of the half.

Arsene Wenger made only two changes but still came up with surprise selections for Arsenal's must-win Group C clash with the Spaniards, who beat them 1-0 in Palma last month.

Sol Campbell's return to central defence after being rested against Blackburn on Saturday was expected as was winger Fredrik Ljungberg's return.

But Bergkamp was given his first European start of the campaign and Gilles Grimandi was handed a midfield role in preference to Ray Parlour.

Mallorca were boosted by the unexpected return to fitness of second-choice goalkeeper Leo Franco but were without injured midfielder Ariel Ibagaza and suspended striker Samuel Eto'o, placing a heavy front-line burden on the talented Alberto Luque.

Bergkamp had an early chance when set up by Patrick Vieira but scuffed an attempted lob and allowed Leon Franco to block the danger in the third minute.

The Dutchman then shot way over the bar from the corner of the area after an advance by Ljungberg, who also skied his shot from a more promising central position following a smart move between Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Henry and Pires.

Leo Franco had to be sharp off his line to kick clear from Ljungberg after Bergkamp's clever flick sent the Swede racing into the box on 12 minutes and Arsenal were beginning to build up a strong head of steam with a flurry of corners.

Bergkamp shot over again from distance and Mallorca had still not managed a worthwhile attack.

It needed a firm tackle by the experienced Nadal to prevent Henry bursting through to the edge of the area from Bergkamp's pass.

Mallorca's star midfielder Vicente Engoga, who scored the penalty winner in Palma, was a late withdrawal from the starting line-up and the Spaniards were being overpowered by Arsenal in that department.

Vieira connected solidly with a square pass from Pires 20 yards out to force an athletic save by Leo Franco in the 22nd minute but when Henry drifted almost casually past two defenders a minute later he only a managed a tame shot which the keeper comfortably collected.

It was all Arsenal as Henry outwitted Markos with a neat piece of control out on the left, made a driving run and drilled in a low cross which was deflected away from the lurking Ljungberg for a corner. Leo Franco did well to paw away the flag-kick under heavy pressure from Martin Keown.

But Arsenal still could not find the finishing touch and even though Ljungberg smartly released Henry into the area down the inside right channel in the 26th minute the striker sent his low, angled shot wide of the far post.

Bergkamp's searching cross from the right found Pires perfectly placed in the area for a shot but he elected to turn the ball back for Henry who could not dig it out from under his feet and another chance went begging in the 33rd minute.

Suddenly Luque was a threat for Mallorca. He chased a long ball out of defence and ran beyond Campbell into the area where Keown came across to help his defensive colleague out of trouble.

Then a misjudgment by Lauren, thinking the subsequent corner was going out of play, allowed Velljko Paunovic to get in a cross from the left which flashed, untouched, across the Arsenal goalmouth.

Suddenly alarm bells were ringing and Arsenal responded with a probing run on the right by Ljungberg but his superb cross was sidefooted inches wide by Henry in the 37th minute.

Arsenal kept running into heavy traffic in the Mallorca area as the Spaniards defended for their lives and Bergkamp was incensed five minutes before the break when referee Dick Jol ignored his claim for a penalty after he went crashing down in the area from Nadal's challenge.

And Bergkamp was desperately unlucky after going past two defenders on the right before seeing his marvellous angled chip shot float over Leo Franco but drop just the wrong side of the far post.

Ljungberg forced a corner and when Campbell outjumped all challengers on the back post to knock the ball down, Pires hit a thunderous volley from 15 yards which was somehow blocked.