Arsene Wenger rallies Arsenal ahead of 'must-win' Champions League tie

Posted Tuesday, September 29, 2015 by skysports.com

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal must beat Olympiakos this week

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has warned his side their Champions League clash with Olympiakos is a must-win game despite being only their second match in Group F.

The Gunners host the Greek leaders, who have won all five of their domestic fixtures, looking to bounce back from their opening defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, where striker Olivier Giroud was sent off.

With a double-header against Bayern Munich to follow, Wenger concedes Tuesday's contest now leaves no margin for further error and believes Premier League teams are paying for the high intensity of the division when it comes to Europe.

"You have to win your home games if you want to qualify from the group stage, it's as simple as that," he said. "We cannot afford to drop points now against anyone at home."

Olivier Giroud is shown the red card against Dinamo Zagreb

"Olympiakos dominate their league, they are a team with a big advantage - they dominate their league easily, so they can prepare for these kinds of games."

"When we were in a high intensity game at Leicester, they were safe after 20 minutes. Dinamo Zagreb played on Saturday and they took three players off at half-time. I cannot do that at Leicester."

"For sure the Premier League is demanding and consuming energy wise, mentally more than physically because physically you recover."

It has been a poor start for English sides in Europe's elite club competition this season, with defeats for both Manchester clubs as well as Arsenal.

Arsenal face Olympiakos on the back of a 5-2 win at Leicester, in which Alexis Sanchez (L) scored a hat-trick

"The Premier League is very, very tough. Is that an influence or not? I don't know, but it's a bit early to come to any conclusions. We have to wait a little bit longer," added Wenger.

"A second year without us being successful and you could come to a conclusion of, 'yes, there is something we have to analyse deeply', but I don't believe so at the moment."

"Are we far away? I don't think so, but we have to show that with our performance."