Olivier Giroud is hoping to use past experience to his advantage in Sunday’s crunch game at Newcastle United.
Giroud was part of the Montpellier team that sealed the Ligue 1 title on the final day of last season with a nerve-jangling victory in Auxerre.
The striker is back in contention at St James’ Park at the weekend after a three-match suspension and he says Arsenal are optimistic about their prospects of a top-four finish.
“We are confident,” Giroud told Arsenal Player. “We won the last game 4-1 after the comeback of Wigan at 1-1. We were under pressure with the score. We needed the win. I could feel the pressure on our shoulders and I think the team had a good reaction and we succeeded to score the second goal with Theo. It was a relief for us.
“Last year was amazing for me because we needed a win to win the championship in a game away at Auxerre. PSG won their game in Lorient so we really needed the win. It was a very special game. It was stopped two or three times by the Auxerre fans because their team went down.
“For Newcastle, it will maybe be a little bit different because Newcastle will play in the Premier League next season. I think it’s a good thing for us.
“Now we have to do the job and keep focused on our qualities and our game. Never mind if they are a little bit relieved, they will maybe play without pressure. I’m not sure but I think it’s better for us.”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.