Giroud stepped up and sent Roberto the wrong way to complete his hat-trick and a ideal night all round for Arsene Wenger’s side, with the Gunners into the knock out stages for the 16th consecutive season. Europe will have seen that performance and I think a lot of teams will want to avoid us now.
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“It is fantastic for me and the team, and we are really pleased to go through”, said the France striker. “He scored a header, one with a good combination thanks to a good pass by Campbell, and also a penalty on top of that. If we get a few of our players back as well then our squad will be even stronger than it is now”. “It’s a special night for us and will create a positive memory”.
Former Arsenal manager George Graham believes the Gunners “can take on anybody” in the Champions League if they maintain the form which saw them beat Olympiakos to qualify for the last 16 on Wednesday.
“Maybe it’s a lucky year for us in the Champions League, you never know”. “That is basically it. On the other hand, we have gone 15 times out of the group consecutively so you could say that is a good habit”.
It was Arsenal who went closest to breaking the deadlock first on 25 minutes when Joel Campbell broke clear down the right and played the ball just behind Mathieu Flamini in the middle with his strike being diverted onto the crossbar by Luka Milivojevic.
We all know history and records are there to be broken, as we have seen by our defeats to Zagreb and Olympiakos already this season, but Wenger is right, we DO usually overcome the odds and make it through. “Olympiakos was a good test for us and Olivier responded well”. I told you that it would be the greatest escape. “The penalty was an important penalty and I’m happy for him, he did well again”.
Arsenal could now face Andre Villas-Boas’ Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester United’s conquerors Wolfsburg or one of the Spanish trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in the next round.
“This is a team, and they showed it again”.
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Arsenal’s players celebrate the opening goal of their team during the Champions League Group F soccer match between Olympiakos and Arsenal at Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus port, near Athens, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015.
