Olympiakos vs Arsenal: Arsene Wenger urges Arsenal to think positive in crucial Champions League clash

A victory by any margin other than 1-0 or 2-1 is required to stave off group-stage elimination

French striker Olivier Giroud gets in some shooting practice ahead of Arsenal’s match against Olympiakos (Getty Images)

Think of the glory, rather than the pain.

In terms of tub-thumping rhetoric, Arsène Wenger is the manager least likely to deliver a Churchillian battle-cry to his players, but with Arsenal’s Champions League ambitions on the line here, the Frenchman chose to focus on the rewards of success, rather than the ignominy of Thursday nights in the Europa League, in an effort to inspire the victory against Olympiakos – by any margin other than 1-0 or 2-1 – required to stave off group-stage elimination.

“If you want to jump over a hurdle, you don’t think about what you will miss,” Wenger said at his team’s Holiday Inn base in the Greek capital tonight. “You just do all you can to get over it. If you fall down, you have to get up, but you must do all you can to get over it.”

In a season dominated by an injury list currently growing faster the Greece’s national debt, there could be a temptation to suggest that Wenger’s athletic metaphor only risked further damage to the limbs of his players, not to mention the pride of his club, if they chase victory too eagerly in the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis.

September’s 3-2 Group F defeat against Olympiakos at the Emirates has ensured that tomorrow's return fixture is laced with risk for Wenger’s team. It is a night when they will hope that adventurousness is rewarded, but the scars of so many recent near misses – against Milan, Bayern Munich and Monaco – have not gone away and the prospect of further pain in Athens casts a shadow over the game.

But for Wenger, the successes of the past, including victories in Madrid, Munich and Milan, are more relevant experiences for his team to take inspiration from. “We have a history where we have positive results,” Wenger said. “We have won everywhere in Europe. We know we can do it, so the best way is to go through with a top quality performance and that is what we must focus on.

“We have to put every scenario in our head, and if we concentrate on the performance the goals will come so let’s focus on that. When the goal comes, I don’t know, but I know that when we play well, we have a chance to score.”

The painful lessons of last season’s second-round exit against Monaco, when Arsenal’s failure to score a decisive goal in the final 10 minutes of the game will, Wenger insisted, also help his players. “We can learn from Monaco, especially what happened there,” Wenger said. “Overall, the game we played in Monaco was very positive. Maybe we rushed our game in the last 10 minutes and maybe we can learn from that – we played with patience and composure until the last 10 minutes, when we rushed.

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

“Olympiakos are a good side, but we want to achieve it. The team will be highly focused to do it because it is a big significance for us.”

Arsenal’s goalscoring aspirations have undoubtedly been affected by the injuries which have cost Wenger the services of Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla in Greece, with long-term absentees Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky already ruled out.

The absence of Francis Coquelin is another blow, but Theo Walcott is fit to play a significant role, if only as an impact substitute in the second half if Arsenal are within touching distance of the victory they require.

But the stakes are high. Success will see Arsenal progress to next Monday’s draw for the last 16 for the 16th successive season, while failure will send the club hurtling into a Europa League draw alongside the European flotsam and jetsam of Molde, Sion and Krasnodar.

“What is at stake? We can qualify for the last 16 in Europe and that is what is at stake,” Wenger said. “Look, at the moment, we are not in this scenario [of playing in the Europa League]. We just want to give absolutely everything to qualify. It is very important to qualify. There is nothing more to say because we want to do well in Europe.

“Would it be a worrying habit [to fail again]? As long as you don’t win the competition, every time you go out is bad and that is basically it. We have come out of the group stage 15 times consecutively, so you can say that is a good habit and we want it to continue.”

Theo Walcott has returned to training for Arsenal (Getty Images)

Eleven years ago this week, a dramatic 86th-minute strike by Steven Gerrard at Anfield secured a crucial two-goal winning margin for Liverpool against Olympiakos to take Rafael Benitez’s team into the knock-out stage by the finest of margins.

Liverpool did not look back, going on to win the Champions League six months later against Milan in Istanbul, and while thoughts of glory in this season’s final at the San Siro would appear fanciful at best, Wenger insisted that his team can become a threat to the tournament favourites if they progress tomorrow.

“Of course we can be dangerous if we go through because we come from far behind,” Wenger said. “If we get through we will be dangerous, for sure. At the moment, there are two or three super favourites, but if we get through we have to chase them.

“First, we must play against a side who will be motivated, but we face that every week. At the moment, Olympiakos are qualified, but let us not forget they can lose what they have and that can create a fear factor as well.

“We just have to adapt to what is happening on the pitch, face the scenarios, accept it and respond.”