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Mesut Ozil, Arsenal

Club record signing German international Mesut Özil is feeling the pressure at Arsenal and manager Arsene Wenger will not let the young German carry the burden of Arsenal’s title ambitions alone.

Wenger is expecting the German to come bouncing back after being given time off to get himself back together following the penalty miss against Bayern Munich during the Gunners first-leg Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich at the Emirates.

Özil will now return to action Saturday when Arsenal travel to the Britannia Stadium to take on Stoke City in what will be a test of their title ambitions after beating a below par Sunderland 4-1 last weekend.

Talking to London’s Evening Standard newspaper the Arsenal boss admitted that the former Real Madrid player was feeling the pressure adapting to life in the English Premiership.

“It is difficult for him mentally to be confronted with that pressure every three days and in every single competition,” Wenger said. “But he will adapt.

“Maybe he feels that (record signing tag) a bit in a different way than I do.

“I just want him to enjoy it and play well.

“He has gone a little bit through a difficult time. It can happen to anybody.

“So have others in the past, and so I don’t worry about Özil.”

Arsenal is right up there with the leaders, just one point behind top side Chelsea with only four points separating the top four teams.

Wenger is of the opinion that the 25-year-old is putting pressure on himself to do better in a means to justify his club record £42.5 million price tag.

“He shouldn’t do that. It’s down to the performance of the team,” the Frenchman said. “I never tell him, ‘You have to win us the game’.

“He’s all right. He loves to play. You give him a ball, he’s happy. That’s the most important thing. And he has the quality, so I don’t worry.

“We have the experience to do that: you have always to be behind your players. The best way is to show him support.”

Both Manchester United and Arsenal face a tough battle in the Champions League after they each lost the first-leg of their last-16 matches by a score of 2-0 something Wenger puts down to the added pressure of the Premiership.

“I maintain that, despite the results,” he said. “Because it is the most levelled league.

“There is not the difference if you take the difference of quality – for example, between Bayern and the rest of the league.

“You have Bayern, Dortmund, then after a big gap. Dortmund this year is not so much there because they had many injuries.

“I feel just you can go to Cardiff, anybody, and lose.

“Spain was a good league as well. But this season I think the English league is the most difficult.

“Maybe as well we pay a little bit the price for that.

“Of course when we play against Bayern you cannot say it is a comparison of the two leagues. It is a comparison of the two teams who want to do well in Europe, and Bayern is a top team in Europe.”

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