How Arsenal can qualify for Champions League last-16

The Gunners know it will be a win-or-bust scenario in Athens on Wednesday although they must win by enough goals to reach the last-16

Olivier Giroud and Petr Cech are likely to start for Arsenal against Olympiakos (Getty Images)

Wednesday’s Champions League decider is a simple one for Arsenal, as they need to win in order to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

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However, while the Gunners will know that a draw or defeat will knock them out and into the Europa League, the situation gets a little bit more complicated should they prevail in Athens.

With Bayern Munich already confirmed as Group F winners courtesy of their 7-0 aggregate advantage over Olympiakos, the battle comes down to second place. While the odds are against Arsenal, they at least know that their fate is in their own hands.

What they need to do is overturn the 3-2 defeat suffered at the Emirates back in September. This can be done by either winning by two clear goals, or by one clear goal in a result that matches or exceeds the 3-2 scoreline from their first encounter.

The one positive for Arsenal is that they’re guaranteed a Europa League berth should they fail on their Greek mission, although both the club and their fans would see that as a massive failure given Arsene Wenger’s side have reached the last-16 every year for the past 15 seasons.

Arsenal will also have to achieve the result without a number of their key players after being depleted by injury. Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla are not likely to play again until March after picking up knee injuries – the latter undergoing surgery on a ruptured knee ligament last week – while Mikel Arteta remains an absentee after suffering from a calf injury.

Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck remain long-term absentees having not played a minute of football this season, although there could be good news in that Theo Walcott is nearing a return to action after recovering from a hamstring injury.