Arsene Wenger desperate for Arsenal to maintain their good Champions League habit

Arsene Wenger's (left) Arsenal lost 3-2 to Olympiakos in London earlier this season

LABEL conscious Arsene Wenger knows that after the final head-to-head with Olympiakos Arsenal will be left with one of two badges.

 

“Group stage qualification kings” or “European football’s nearly men”.

Ever since the defeat against the Greeks at the Emirates, Arsenal’s attempt to progress through the  Champions League group stages for the 16th season in a row has hung on a knife edge.

Sure enough – the mathematics eventually worked down to a single head-to-head in the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Athens’ port gateway.

 

Essentially, if Arsenal win by two clear goals they are through once again. The trouble is, in general, Arsenal do not do European knife edges particularly well.

Monaco last season: a 3-1 home defeat left the north London side facing an uphill task to qualify on aggregate. The 2-0 win in France saw them exit narrowly on away goals.

The year before they succumbed to no greater force than Bayern Munich by exactly the same scoreline, failing in five frantic minutes to secure the third goal of an unlikely win at the Allianz Arena.

When they were buried 4-0 at the San Siro by Inter Milan in 2012 everybody thought it was game over. However, Arsenal got themselves 3-0 up at half-time back at the Emirates, but just could not find the fourth to take the tie to extra time.

 

So near, so far – always.

“A worrying habit?” Wenger mused. “As long as you don't win the competition – at any stage to go out is bad. That is basically it.”

Then, with that mischievous smile back on his face, he flipped the question.

“On the other hand, we have climbed 15 times out of the group stages consecutively, so you could say that is a good habit.”

 

Wenger could have a lot to ponder if they fail in the Greek capital

On the plus side, Wenger is sure that those near misses should set his players up psychologically to know exactly what is expected of them.

“Mentally, you prepare yourself to adapt to every situation and give the right response to every situation you face,” he said.

“We will have to adapt to what is happening on the pitch and to all of the scenarios, accept them and respond. But from Monaco especially we can learn from what happened to us.

“Overall the game we played in Monaco was very positive, maybe we rushed a little bit in the last 10 minutes and that is what we can learn from the game.

 

The Arsenal boss is focused on the task in hand to keep their Champions League hopes alive

“Ideally, you would like not to have to be patient but we might need to be. What is important is that basically the same for every game in Champions League you attack well and defend well, that is the best way, go into the game with a desire to win it and knowing you need to do both sides of the game well.”

However, other recent historical precedent is less helpful. Arsenal have travelled to Olympiakos three times in the last six years, always in December. Each time they have lost.

Moreover, Olympiakos are currently flying high in the Greek Super League on the back of 12 successive domestic victories since the start of the season.

Indeed, Group F winners Bayern Munich are the only team from anywhere who have not rolled over in front of Olympiakos this season and a repeat of either the 3-0 win for the Germans here or the 4-0 victory in Munich will be enough for Arsenal.

 

Wenger is hoping that if they can get the jitters to set in, momentum and nerves will do the rest.

“We are playing against a side that is at the moment qualified but they can lose what they have and that can create a fear factor.

“We have to put every scenario in our head - it is important we focus on the performance. The results come if we play well so let’s focus on that.

“They are a good side but we know we can do it. The team will be highly focused - this holds a big significance to us.”