Arsène Wenger is confident his Arsenal players will atone for the defeats that have imperilled their Champions League qualification by getting the victory they need at Olympiakos in what is now a do-or-die final group tie.
Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb, on the back of eye-catching performances from Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez, and saw Bayern Munich do them a favour by beating Olympiakos 4-0 at the Allianz Arena.
It means they can qualify for the last 16 by winning in Athens on 8 December by either two goals or by a scoreline of 3-2, 4-3 and so on. They have to overturn the 3-2 loss that they suffered against the Greeks at the Emirates to progress on the head-to-head tie-breaker. A 3-2 win would suffice as Arsenal have the better goal difference, which is the next tie-breaker.
Arsenal’s victory over a lacklustre Dinamo made the 2-1 loss they suffered in Zagreb in the opening tie feel even more galling but Wenger can sense redemption, and a place in the Champions League’s second round for a 16th season in succession.
“We wanted to come out of tonight with a chance to qualify,” Wenger said. “We needed to do the job and Bayern needed to do the job – we’ve both done it well. It gives us the chance. How big the chance is, I don’t know but I believe we can do it. Let’s make right what we didn’t do right until now. It will be tough but we have to believe we can do it and I believe we can do it.”
Arsenal have played away to Olympiakos three times in final group ties since 2009 and lost them all – but on each occasion, they had already qualified. The circumstances are wildly different this time.
“We just need to win,” Wenger said. “One goal might not be enough but if you lead 1-0, they will be in the situation where they can lose it and we will be in a situation where we can win it. So we have to go there and win. If you can win 1-0, you can win 2-0, as well. For us the task has one advantage – it’s very clear.”
There have been major problems concerning crowd trouble in Greece of late, with last Saturday’s derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos abandoned after home fans clashed with police beforehand and threw flares at the visiting Olympiakos players as they walked out onto the pitch.
“You have to trust Uefa and the organisation in Greece to handle that well,” Wenger said. “Normally, you have never any problem in the Champions League on that front.”
Wenger said Francis Coquelin would be out for 12 weeks with knee ligament trouble while he substituted Olivier Giroud and Héctor Bellerín because of slight ankle and groin niggles.