Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech spoke to the media after his side’s resounding 3-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League. Before the match, the Gunners were under immense pressure to secure a second win in Europe in order to keep their hopes of progressing into the next round of the competition alive.
Following both Arsenal’s win over the Croatians and crucially, Bayern Munich’s win over Olympiacos, Cech believes that his teammates are feeling more confident about progressing from their group. He went on to suggest that the Gunners’ next game against Olympiacos will act as if they were already in the playoffs.
We are obviously delighted with the way we managed to win our game and with the fact Bayern Munich put in a strong performance and won their game. That is what we needed in today’s round.
We did our bit, they did their bit and it is now a grand finale for us in the last game, and we are literally entering the play-off already. So we are going into a play-off situation and we know what we need to get so hopefully we will be ready for that.
When asked whether his side could do enough against the Greeks to see them move on to the round of 16, Cech claimed that his side has learnt from their mistakes and are confident that they can secure a positive result next time around.
Well, they were very efficient when they played here so we know if we create chances, play our game and put them under pressure, we have a chance to score our goals in the game and make the difference we need.
So we can go in a confident mood because a few rounds ago we were almost out of the competition and now we have everything in our hands to progress. That is the situation, which is actually good for us.
Reflecting on the rest of the competition, Cech argued that he didn’t want to have to consider the prospect of missing out on the round of 16 and is entirely focused on helping his team reach the next stage of the tournament.
You don’t want to miss the play-off games. We need to make sure we go there and get the result no matter how and [get] in the draw for the last 16.
Having secured wins over both Dinamo Zagreb and Bayern Munich so far in the UEFA Champions League, Arsene Wenger’s men sit third in their group, three points behind second place Olympiacos. However, they have a superior goal difference to the Greeks, meaning that as long as they can beat them head-to-head by a certain number of goals in their next game, there is every chance that they can qualify for the knockout stage.
