‘We must regroup and keep on fighting’

Petr Cech says Arsenal “have to regroup and continue fighting” after Wednesday’s 5-1 defeat away at Bayern Munich.

Arsène Wenger’s side are in a perilous position in Group F, six points adrift of the Bundesliga champions and Olympiacos with two games to play.

While qualification to the knockout stages now appears unlikely, victory at home to Dinamo Zagreb on matchday five would take Arsenal’s hopes of progression into their final fixture in Piraeus, providing Olympiacos lose at Allianz Arena. 

“You [need to] win two games and we need to make sure that the head to head against Olympiacos is in our favour,” Cech told Arsenal Player. “Then you can go through. 

“Everything is possible. We have two games to play, we have to regroup and continue fighting until the last minute.

“Every game comes thick and fast. You need to make sure that you recover and move on to the next one. It was not a day we wanted. 

“We need to win the last two games and make sure that we have a better head to head against Olympiacos. In terms of the league, win or lose [in Europe], you need to make sure that you’re ready for the next game.”

Cech feels Bayern’s second goal was decisive at Allianz Arena.

“Obviously the first two goals decided the game because they gave them confidence,” he added. “When we thought that we had the equaliser, it was not given. 

“A few minutes later, we had an unlucky deflection and that was probably where the game changed. After that moment, they controlled the first half.

“It’s tough to take but in a way you have to accept that the team you were playing against was superior to us today in everything they did, especially in the first half. That’s why the score in the first half was the way it was. 

“I think we improved a lot in the second half. We gave them more things to think about and we created some chances. 

“If you look at the two games we played against them, today we had more chances than in the first game but they were much more efficient.”

“There are some positives from the second half but we need to do better defensively and be more aggressive because today we allowed them too much time on the ball.”