Arsenal routs Basel 4-1 to win Champions League group

Arsene Wenger’s side travelled to Switzerland knowing they needed to better PSG’s result in order to progress as group winners, and an early brace from Lucas Perez ensured the Gunners did their bit as they cruised to a 4-1 win.

However, while PSG could only draw at home to Ludogorets Razgrad, the Gunners overtook the French giants courtesy of a convincing 4-1 win away to Basel.

Mesut Ozil’s delightful assist let Alex Iwobi score in the 53rd before Basel substitute Seydou Doumbia struck a consolation goal in the 78th.

Victory of any scale over Xhaka’s former club at their St Jakob-Park home will not be enough for Arsenal to leapfrog Paris St Germain at the head of the group so long as the Ligue 1 champions see off Ludogorets in France.

With the last-16 draw taking place on Monday, Wenger was pleased to go through as group winners, but remained apprehensive about his side’s next opponents.

The Gunners enter the last 16 as group winners for the first time since 2011 and at least know they can not face favourites Barcelona, who won their group, in the first knockout round.

In five out of the previous six seasons – when they have always exited at the Champions League first knockout stage – his men have finished second.

Urs Fischer: “We do not go into the game with the goal of a draw”.

“Perez’s first two looked easy goals, created by the team to make, what you call in England, tap-ins”.

“I thought that Ludogorets were a good side”, he said, but added that finishing first wasn’t necessarily a big advantage. “But the third goal is a real striker’s goal”. We miss only 20 per cent of our chances this year, last year we missed over 100.

Arsenal fans were quick to praise Ozil for the role he played in the crucial second goal. “What I could see is that Arsenal have really dynamic movement and good forward runs”, as quoted on ITV news.

And rather than allow Basel a route back into the game by starting slowly in the second period, they came out the traps in fifth gear – Perez completing his hat-trick two minutes after the restart with a lovely finish from just inside the area.

Arsenal went into the final match day nearly certain of advancing to the round of 16 as runners-up for the fourth straight season – knowing even victory in Switzerland would not be enough if PSG picked up an expected win.