Wenger slams Arsenal defending after Bayern rout

Petr Cech is adamant that Arsenal retain a sizeable chance of still qualifying for the knockout phase of the Champions League despite being reliant on Bayern Munich beating Olympiakos and then winning two “cup finals” of their own.

Arsenal saw 37% of possession in the game – a 2% increase on the reverse fixture – but were somewhat poor when they didn’t have the ball, winning 43% of their tackles.

The victory was even more impressive given that Arsenal are the only team to beat Bayern this season and the English side came into the game having won their last five league matches.

Guardiola promised Arsenal that Bayern would do their utmost to beat the Greek side. We have a chance to qualify.

He added: “We must bounce back quickly – put negative energy away and bounce back”. This game will not remain in my memory as nothing positive happened at all.

“We were not at the races”. “In terms of the league, you win, you lose, you have to make sure you are ready for the next game”.

“I can’t tell you if it’s the worst, but we have to realise that with that kind of performance our chances are at a minimum”.

Wenger insisted that Wednesday’s setback will not shatter his players’ confidence ahead of Sunday’s north London derby at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

“Over 19 years my memory is not that good”.

Speaking on the Colin Murray show, he said: “Manchester City are already through, and while Manchester United aren’t scoring a lot of goals, they’re such a hard team to beat at the moment”.

“They were brilliant. We have to admit it, we have to analyse quickly”.

Costly defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos before Wednesday’s game have left Arsenal with one win from their first four games and perilously close to elimination.

Whilst Arsenal’s tactics in the game were praised throughout European football, Guardiola accused the Gunners of abandoning their “football DNA” and stated his belief their defence will struggle under pressure this evening.

“It was hard against Bayern, but we will learn from it, as always, and bounce back quickly”. They’re really good defensively, so I think they’re going through as well.

That may be feasible, but Arsenal are likely to need a far tougher two goal win in Greece after their 3-2 defeat at the Emirates.