Wenger - We just have to go for it

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal “have to go for it from the start” in their Champions League decider against Olympiacos on Wednesday.

The Gunners need to beat the Greek champions by a margin of two goals, or win by a one-goal margin and score at least three times, to qualify from Group F.

Wenger’s side have reached the knockout stages of the competition for the last 15 seasons, and the manager believes that Saturday’s 3-1 win against Sunderland will give Arsenal the confidence they need to win in Greece.

“Personally the record means a lot because it's important for the club and for the players,” he said. “I want to win and I want to qualify. For me our job is to win the next game, and do what is requested.

“There is one positive thing for us - we know exactly what we have to do. We know that we have to go for it from the start. So let's do that and hopefully we can get through. We know what is expected and we have studied Olympiacos.

“We changed the team completely [against Sunderland] because we’ve lost the core in midfield of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin in the past two weeks, and we had to find a new balance. We were a bit insecure as well because we had not won last week. I believe [Olympiacos] is a different game psychologically, it's clear, we just have to go for it.”

Aaron Ramsey started alongside Mathieu Flamini in Cazorla and Coquelin’s absence on Saturday, scoring Arsenal’s third goal, and Wenger is hoping the Wales midfielder can replicate his performance at Karaiskakis Stadium on Wednesday.

“Aaron is a player who creates a high number of chances when he plays through the middle and his expected goals when he plays through the middle is quite high, one of the highest in the Premier League,” the manager said.

“So I'm not surprised when he plays through the middle he's always attracted [to the ball]. He could have scored three today. That's why he was so happy when he scored. In the first half he had a back pass from Nacho when he could have scored, after that he hit the goalkeeper when he could have scored, and then he did.”