We made it. The last round will be just like a play-off

“It went well,” stated Petr in reference to the penultimate Group F match. “Olympiakos defended well and we knew we had to stay patient. We took a while to score but once we had, the game opened up. We went on to score a second one pretty soon, which decided the outcome,” Petr explained.

The Gunners were in a 2-0 lead at half time and scored a third goal after the interval. “We had the match under control. It was exactly the scenario we were striving for. We’re happy with the outcome, including the fact that Bayern also affirmed their role of the favourite.”

Petr was ironically forced to perform the trickiest of his saves in response to one of his teammates’ challenges. Konscielny attempted to clear the ball away from the box, however the ball ricocheted off Flamini, back towards the goal. Petr was then forced to apply his reflexes and knock the ball wide. “It’s important to keep your focus in games where you’re generally less pre-occupied. I’d been playing with my feet a lot, but hadn’t actually touched the ball with my hands that much. I’m glad for the clean sheet and—mainly—for the fact that we finished the game under control and without excessive stress,” Petr commented.

Arsenal is now expected to face Olympiacos in an all-or-nothing game on 9 December. “It’ll be like play-off for us as it’s the aggregate score that counts and we’ll be attempting to overturn a goal deficit. We won 2-3 at home and the maths is pretty clear. We know what we need to do, and so does our opponent. Under certain circumstances they have the option to actually lose, while we simply have to win by two goals. It won’t be easy but that doens’t mean it’s not within our powers to qualify,” added Petr.