Arsène Wenger voiced the hope that it might be Arsenal’s lucky year in the Champions League, after watching his team pull off the “greatest escape” to pip Olympiakos to a place in the last 16.
Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick as Arsenal won 3-0 to beat the Greek champions on the head-to-head tie-break – Olympiakos had won 3-2 at the Emirates in September – and it was a night when Wenger described every last detail as being “perfect”.
The draw for the first knockout round takes place on Monday and Arsenal will face one of Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Wolfsburg or Zenit St Petersburg.
“We’ll see who we get next round, I’ve not even looked at that,” Wenger said. “We were so much out of it that I put all my focus on staying in. The kind of performance we produced in a very heated atmosphere was perfect – on the mental front and the tactical side as well. We needed great character and that kind of performance will certainly make the team stronger.
“We were in escape mode before the game and we needed something special. I told you that it would be the greatest escape. When you do that, it creates a positive memory for the rest of the season. Maybe it is a lucky year for us in the Champions League. You never know.”
Wenger has enjoyed many great European nights during his long tenure at Arsenal but he put this one up there with the best. “When we look at who we lost [to injuries] in the last three weeks – Coquelin, Cazorla and Sánchez – and we came here with all the other players who were already out, not many people gave us a chance,” Wenger added.
“But we are a real team. We are very close in the dressing room and you could see this tonight. We needed the perfect performance and it was one of the best we have given in Europe.”
Giroud completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot and Wenger said that the striker had been the team’s designated taker, ahead of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey. “We respected the order,” he added. “And he took it well. He has practised in training and he was quite good. But it’s easier to score when you already have two.
“It was the perfect performance from Olivier. He scored a header, one from a great pass from Joel Campbell and the penalty. He found himself in uncomfortable positions but he showed skills and character. He had to fight like mad. I have always defended Olivier’s character. He has something special on the character front and he showed that again tonight.”
Giroud said: “It is fantastic for me and the team, and we are really pleased to go through. We missed the chance a few years ago, and last year against Monaco, so it is nice to go through. We are so pleased for the fans and I feel really good.
“The Champions League is one level up and we needed to be focused as a unit and together. We defended well, too. We are really pleased to have done this and now we will focus back on the Premier League and try to carry on our good momentum from this game.
“We want to go as far as we can in the Champions League and my personal target is to reach at least the quarter-final. I think that’s the same for the team. It’s the fourth year I have been at Arsenal and I have never played in a quarter-final.”