Possession will be key in Greece, says Arsenal’s Bellerin

(Reuters) – Controlling possession will be key in Arsenal’s do-or-die Champions League clash against Olympiakos Piraeus on Wednesday, right back Hector Bellerin has said, as Arsene Wenger’s men seek to qualify for the knockout stages for a 16th consecutive year.

The Gunners need to beat the Greek champions either by two clear goals, or by any margin with the North London side scoring at least three goals, to progress from the group stages. If they fail to do so, they will drop into the Europa League.

“We’ve proved already that we’re a team who are very dangerous when we have the ball. We need to try to do that at Olympiakos by having possession and creating chances,” Bellerin told the club’s website (www.arsenal.com).

“I’m sure that the ball is going to go in and that we’re going to go home with a win. That’s very important, that the team is in the mood for it and that the team wants to get out of the group stages. We know that, as the players who represent Arsenal Football Club, we need to be up for the job.”

The 20-year-old made his fourth start since he returned from a groin injury in Saturday’s 3-1 Premier League win over Sunderland and said he was getting back to his best form in time for Wednesday’s decider in Greece.

“After the injury it’s important to get a good run of games and get the rhythm back again. It’s important to get the three points as well because that helps you a lot,” Bellerin said.

“You need to go step by step to get the rhythm that you had before. I know there’s more to come and now we are just focused on the game on Wednesday because it’s a really important one for us.”

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)