Arsenal beats Olympiakos 3-0 to qualify with 3 from Giroud

But then there was the voice of reason, as Arsenal haven’t made it past the round of 16 since they fell to Barcelona in the 2010-11 season. “We needed something special to come back like we did and tonight we needed a complete team performance”, added Wenger.

What Arsenal team will line-up against Olympiakos in the crucial Champions League showdown?

They were also hammered 5-1 by group winners Bayern Munich, but recovered to qualify with an accomplished display in Greece. Gunners midfielder Ozil has been in sensational form but Wenger does not believe even he can play in all six of their games in the busy December fixture schedule.

The task is straightforward – defeat Olympiacos by two or more goals and Arsenal gets to play on in the tournament. Danny Welbeck, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky continue their rehabilitation while Francis Coquelin is out until February with ligament damage in his knee, Santi Cazorla is also out with knee trouble and Alexis Sanchez suffered a hamstring injury.

Arsene Wenger is not considering the consequences should Arsenal fail to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday. As a result, this could turn out to be a very big night for Joel Campbell, who has been given his opportunity in the Arsenal first-team and here can help the club overcome the odds at the expense of the side with whom he spent the 2013-14 season on loan.

His hat-trick was complete when referee Nicola Rizzoli pointed to the penalty spot as Nacho Monreal’s shot was blocked by the arm of the diving Omar Elabdellaoui.

He now has 13 goals this season and after admitting he was relieved to seal qualification, the striker looked forward to Monday’s last-16 draw. Our target is maybe to reach the quarter-finals.

Arsenal: The Gunners will look to move to the top of the Premier League with a win over Aston Villa on Sunday. I know that there will be a very good atmosphere, the fans are insane and they really support their team right through the full 90 minutes.

In what was a straight shootout for the second spot in the group at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium, Giroud opened the scoring with a stooping header from Aaron Ramsey’s cross just before the half-hour. How he needed them.

It was the hosts who almost got the game’s next goal as another sloppy pass from Hector Bellerin left Arsenal exposed and Brown Ideye’s cross was turned inches over his own crossbar by Laurent Koscielny as the game remained finely poised at the interval. There is a high chance that the bus will be parked and the defence will have a tough night. “I would like to pay tribute to those who were not here and those who stepped in”.