“Then they went 2-1 up and I think the overall scenario was because we never got in front when we should have, we ended up losing the game when we shouldn’t have”.
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Olympiacos boss Marco Silva believes Arsenal’s injury crisis should not be a deciding factor in the crunch Champions League game tonight, arguing his side missed several stars in the earlier fixture between the two at the Emirates Stadium. Lo and behold, it came through (and I was only one goal away from my prediction). When will the goal come? “If you want to have a chance to get across the hurdle, you have to give absolutely everything to get over it”. “It will be a cup final and we have to win to continue in Champions League”. “We know we can do it, the team will be highly focused”.
Injuries to three key players could derail Arsenal’s attempt to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League when it plays Olympiakos on Wednesday. In effect, this means any win other than 1-0 or 2-1 will take them through.
“From Monaco especially we can learn from what happened to us”, he added. The game we played was very positive, maybe we rushed it in the last ten minutes.
Aaron Ramsey grabbed an 89-minute third for Arsene Wenger’s side but the Sunderland manager felt they never should have been in the position of chasing the game.
Secondly, the Reds consist of players who have ambitions to play in bigger clubs and their quality can be compared to Arsenal’s footballers.
“They were on a high because it was the first time they had won for many years in England”. They were well organised on counter-attacks and set pieces.
On paper, Arsenal have nothing to fear, but there are facts which can lead them to a nightmare exit from the Champions League.
“You can see they are used to dominating their championship because they had the confidence when they had the opportunity”.
“It is against a side that is at the moment qualified but can lose what they have”, Wenger said. Their only defeats all season have been against Bayern Munich and their record in the Greek league stands at a ideal 12 wins from 12.
“Every single game we were a bit unlucky but if we get through we will be unsafe that is for sure”. In either of those eventualities, Olympiakos will be the group stage casualties.
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None of the players who were blooded in this match, including Gilles Sunu, went on to forge careers for themselves in North London, but the occasion was another example of Wenger’s willingness to place faith in the club’s youth setup, something he continues to do in his 20th year in charge.
