Arsenal's Arsene Wenger deflects pressure onto Olympiakos ahead of Champions League do or die

Pressure's on: Arsene Wenger says the heat is on Olympiakos
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
James Olley8 December 2015

Arsene Wenger sought to pile the pressure on Olympiakos ahead of their Champions League showdown by warning the Greek champions: You have it all to lose.

The Gunners must win by a score of 3-2 or better here in Piraeus tomorrow evening to avoid exiting the competition at this stage for the first time in 16 years.

By contrast, OIympiakos are attempting to book their place in the last 16 for only the fourth time in the last decade and Wenger believes the prospect of qualification could cause doubts to creep in.

“We play against a side that will be motivated but we face that every week,” he said. “[We play] against a side that is at the moment qualified but they can lose what they have and that can create a fear factor, the best way for us to achieve it is to believe in our quality. Before when we came here we had already qualified, that is not the case tomorrow night.”

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Wenger insists his own team must not focus on the possibility of dropping down into the Europa League for the first time since its inception.

“At the moment we are not in this scenario, we just want to give absolutely everything to qualify tomorrow, if you want to jump to jump over a hurdle you don’t think what happens if you miss,” he said.

“If you fall down then you respond. But if you want to have a chance to get across you have to give absolutely everything to get over it.”

Wenger has urged his side to play with patience despite needing to score at least two goals to progress. The Gunners boss believes his team can learn from last season’s exit to Monaco, where Arsenal were 2-0 up in the second leg with 11 minutes left but failed to score again and went out on away goals.

“From Monaco especially we can learn from what happened to us,” he said. “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.

“I believe we played quite well with the right patience until the last 10 minutes. Mentally, you prepare yourself to adapt to every situation and give the right response to every situation you face.

“We will have to adapt to what is happening on the pitch and to all of the scenarios, accept them and respond.”

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