“We managed to play the ball behind them and tried to make them play high balls to Giroud up front”.
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“We have to win both games and get two goals on Olympiakos, but it’s not over and that’s how we have to approach it. We need to bounce back and put away negative energy”.
Arsene Wenger’s men went to the Allianz Arena confident of securing a positive result following their 2-0 win over the German champions on Matchday Three – but were handed another rude awakening by Pep Guardiola’s side.
Wenger stopped short of labelling the performance the worst defensive display of his lengthening tenure and admits progression into the knockout rounds is looking unlikely. We made things quite easy for them with our defensive performance.
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. Robben scored with his first touch, less than a minute after coming off the bench when he flicked Alaba’s pass into the Arsenal net for his first Champions League goal for more than a year on 55 minutes. We still have a chance to qualify, Olympiacos has to lose here, we have to beat Zagreb and then to beat Olympiacos at Olympiacos.
The 5-1 defeat by Bayern Munich, coupled with a late victor for Greek side Olympiakos Piraeus against Dinamo Zagreb means Arsenal must win their last two games and hope for the best.
Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat of Bayern Munich a fortnight ago in London had, for a fleeting moment, suggested the Gunners were made of sterner stuff. They’re really good defensively, so I think they’re going through as well. We have to realise that with that kind of performance, our chances are at a minimum.
Arsenal now must comfortably win both remaining games in this group to stand any chance of progressing.
“They have players like (Thomas) Mueller, (Robert) Lewandowski and so on. We have to take it on the chin and get ready for the next two games and take six points”.
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Mourinho benefited from a spot of good fortune in the first half of this Group G encounter when Dynamo defender Aleksandar Dragovic sent a diving header into his own goal while trying to clear Diego Costa’s cross.
