Arsene Wenger picks out ‘perfect’ Arsenal star as key performer in Olympiakos

Arsene Wenger has called Arsenal’s sensational 3-0 victory over Olympiacos and subsequent qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League the “Great Escape”, as per BT Sport.

“He scored a header, one with a good combination thanks to a good pass by Campbell, and also a penalty on top of that”.

“We had a flawless performance, I think – on the mental front and on the tactical side as well”, said Wenger. “If we get a few of our players back as well then our squad will be even stronger than it is now”. Nine times out of 10 you are out [after such a poor start] and we needed something special and we needed a complete team performance, and it was.

That took the wind out of Olympiakos as Arsenal eased into the last-16 of the Champions League for the 16th successive season.

A 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich last month left Arsenal dead last in their group, needing two wins from two in order to finish runners-up behind the Germans. “From the first to the last minute we were a good team and I’m very proud of them”. “If we get the likes of Wolfsburg it will be a completely different ball game because they had a great result against Manchester United”.

Yes, certainly because we needed a ideal performance to score without conceding. This in turn leaves three La Liga giants, a Bundesliga powerhouse and the Russia Premier League champions as possible opponents in the next round of the Champions League.

They weathered the early enthusiasm from the physical home side, who were backed by typically partisan support, and slowly seized the initiative with a composed performance.

“We want to go as far as we can”, said Giroud.

An own goal on 12 minutes and Willian’s fine strike not long after the break saw them eliminate Porto and the Portuguese paid tribute to his players’ desire. This could prove a hard task with the possibility of drawing Real Madrid or Barcelona in the next round. “I told you that it would be the greatest escape”, said the Arsenal boss after the game.

“On our day I believe we can beat anybody and teams will try and avoid us”. We’ve qualified and we didn’t concede any goals.

“We were so much out of it that I put all my focus on staying in. Whatever we did from that point we knew what it was too late”.