Olympiacos coach Marco Silva has said that he has no intention of letting his side sit back and soak up the Arsenal pressure even though he is well aware that they can lose and still progress to the last 16 of the competition.
Having already beaten Arsenal 3-2 back in September at the Emirates, and victories over Dinamo Zagreb the Greek champions are in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League sitting second in Group F behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Arsenal must win by two clear goals or a scoreline of 3-2 or better for the Gunners to advance on for their 16th straight season.
And while Arsenal has proven they can beat anyone on the given day Portuguese manager Silva is full of confidence having seen his side only lose to Bayern Munich in all competitions so far this season and is not thinking about a possible loss to Arsenal.
“It is true that we have the opportunity to knock out Arsenal,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“We will fight until the end to achieve this. Never in any game, in any event, did we prepare to lose and so we will not be doing that now.”
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger meanwhile believes Arsenal can take advantage of a fear of failure from Olympiacos.
“We play against a side that will be motivated but we face that every week,” he said.
“Against a side that is at the moment qualified but they can lose what they have and that can create a fear factor, the best way for us to achieve it is to believe in our quality.
“Mentally, you prepare yourself to adapt to every situation and give the right response to every situation you face.
“We will have to adapt to what is happening on the pitch and to all of the scenarios, accept them and respond.”
