For Arsenal, a win over Zagreb, combined with an Olympiakos defeat, would give the team the only real chance of moving on to the round of 16 in the final game of the group stage.
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Arsenal now need a first ever win in Piraeus – they have lost on all three visits to the Greek champions – and likely by a two-goal margin, if they are to progress from Group F, but Wenger believes that history is no harbinger.
“We will respond well – we’re disappointed but we didn’t deserve to lose that game”, claimed Wenger.
“It was a good night because we did the job and played at a high pace”, added Wenger.
Sanchez set up Ozil’s opener with a stunning cross from the left, which saw his German teammate time his sliding header perfectly to give the Gunners a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.
We’re expecting a big fight from both sides today, with only one coming out on top. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in Germany as to whether that will be enough to keep our qualification hopes alive. “They are a higher quality team than Olympiacos and my opinion is that they will go through”. “When everybody is back, I believe we have the squad to compete in those domains”.
“You have to trust UEFA and the organisation over there to ensure it is handled well”. “Normally, you have never any problem in the Champions League on that front”.
An Alexis Sanchez brace and a Mesut Ozil goal saw the Gunners power past the Croatian side, who had defeated them in the earlier fixture between the two in the group this season.
Wenger was delighted with Sanchez’s latest masterclass and he claimed he had no qualms about leaving the Chile forward on even when the result was long since decided.
“Then once it was 3-0 you are not in a position where you need to work back”.
Arsenal went into the evening hoping Olympiakos would not pull off a surprise win at Bayern Munich and Pep Guardiola’s side played their part by winning 4-0. “We have to look at ourselves and deal with our own performance”, he said.
Ademi insists he is innocent, while his coach Zoran Mamic told the club’s website: “To punish a player for four years after the experts proved that he took a contaminated supplement is senseless”.
“We tried to do our best”.
Gunners boss Wenger said: “At least tonight we have come out with a chance”.
“They were really pressing”.
“We have to be honest”.
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Alexis Sanchez was undoubtedly the player of game for Arsenal.
