As things stand, Wenger’s men will need to win in Piraeus by two clear goals or a score of 3-2 or higher if they are to reach the last 16.
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Wenger is quoted by the BBC as telling BT Sport: “It promises to be a very interesting game [against Olympiakos], but at least we have a chance”.
Wenger also praised red-hot Chilean Sanchez after another energetic performance inspired Arsenal’s victory while Mesut Ozil was also on target.
“We will give absolutely everything to stay in the Champions League”, the Frenchman said.
The Gunners must beat Croatian side Dinamo at the Emirates Stadium to keep their hopes alive, but even that won’t be enough to avoid elimination if second placed Olympiakos, who sit six points ahead of Arsenal, draw or win at Bayern Munich.
With four games played, the Gunners had only managed to gather a measly three points after two surprise losses at the beginning of the group stage.
Sanchez and Ozil cost a combined £77 million and when it was pointed out that the two record signings had swept Arsenal to the brink of qualification despite a disastrous start to the group, Wenger laughed off his reputation as a spendthrift.
“I don’t know if I would have the support of anybody but I came out on that and as a result we had a doping control from UEFA on Friday”, he added. We needed to do the job and Bayern needed to do the job.
The defensive midfielder has been ruled out for 2 months with a knee ligament injury and joins an injury list that include Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“We just need to win”. With a injury hit squad they will have to play fewer games and the team will be more focused on the Premier League giving them a chance to go for a shot of their first Premier League title in more than 10 years.
“He’s just a very important player”, said Wenger.
“Giroud had a little problem with his ankle at the weekend so I made a decision to give him breather”, the Arsenal boss told reporters at a post-match press conference.
Ironically when they did take the lead on 29 minutes it came on the counter-attack from a rare Dinamo Zagreb break as Sanchez got away down the left and chipped a cross into the middle of the area where Ozil stooped to head past Eduardo from close range.
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Its a vital game for the Gunners and surely one in which they should win in front of their home fans, and their price of 2/9 to win tonight speaks volumes as to how the bookies rate their chances.
