Arsenal unexpectedly stayed in the competition with their 3-0 win in Athens on Wednesday night and the players now believe that the momentum of what Arsene Wenger has described as “the greatest escape” can worry even Barcelona or Real Madrid in the next round.
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Midway through the second period, Omar Elabdellaoui was perhaps harshly penalised for handling Nacho Monreal’s shot, and Giroud coolly converted the spot-kick for his first Arsenal hat-trick in his three and half years at the club. “It’s the fourth year I have been here and we have never played in a quarter-final”.
Arsenal qualified despite missing seven first-team players, including Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla, but Giroud said their performance had demonstrated their strength in depth.
To Wenger this season’s Barclays Premier League champions could be crowned with one of the lowest points totals in the history of the competition. “Giroud’s performance was ideal”, Wenger said.
The manager stressed that the results had made them stronger and strengthened their belief, adding that they were looking forward to the upcoming matches. “It’s a special night for us and will create a positive memory”.
Talking to reporters, Flamini said: ‘I think competition is very important in the big teams. “It’s the Champions League, so whoever you get in the draw is going to be hard because you’ve seen teams struggle when they should go through and should be winning”. The rest of the game was inconsequential as Arsenal won 3-0. We needed something special to switch it on and come back like we did.
“We were searching for it and we knew if we played our game, if we have a great team performance and great individual performances then we will have a chance, and we did say exactly that”, he said after.
“The kind of performance we produced in a very heated atmosphere was ideal – on the mental front and the tactical side as well”. We have Walcott, Giroud and [Alexis] Sánchez that can all score goals. We are really pleased.
The hostility quickly turned to stunned silence as Olivier Giroud got the ball rolling for the visitors with a well directed header via the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Roberto, highlighted by a superb reverse pass by Mesut Ozil that found Aaron Ramsey to get in behind the Greeks’ defence.
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Before his feat, only club legend Thierry Henry had netted a treble in an away tie in the Champions League for Arsenal. If you don’t score for three games, you’re questioned again. Find us on Facebook too!
