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aandinum sangranthikkum anu form akunnathu. ennalum ullathil nalla striker

 

Arsenal, having come runners up, can draw either Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atleti, Zenit or Wolfsburg in the round of 16

 

No one expects a good run in UCL , who knows sometimes luck can get you through !

 

Kali kaanan patiyilla. Giroud okke hattrick adikannu paranja

 

businu londonil polum fans 3l1e ullu

 

Olivier Giroud says he’s delighted to have scored his first Arsenal hat-trick, but says that the fact the team qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League is the most important thing.

The French striker opened the scoring in the first period, before two second half strikes ensured the Gunners passage to the round of 16.

Speaking after the game, he said, “It is fantastic for me. We are happy with this result tonight. We missed the chance two or three years ago and also this year in Monaco so it is nice to go thorough the group stage as we were not in a good position.

“Finally we have done it for the fans and I feel very nice.”

Giroud acknowledged the fact that he went home with the match-ball, but was keen to stress that it was a team effort.

“It is quite an important one [hat-trick],” he said. “It is my first one and I was waiting for that for a long time. I felt the team worked very well as a unit, so we are really pleased with each other.

“The first goal was a good ball from Aaron. Sometimes I like to step back from the box. The second one was a good assist from Joel and he did really well.


“We feel really pleased tonight, we had a celebration all together after the game. It has been a few years and we miss it. We really wanted to focus on the group stages so we bounced back and we have great team spirit and confidence.”

 

Aaron Ramsey has praised Olivier Giroud for both his hat-trick against Olympiacos and his goals this season which have come at a more consistent rate than in any other.
The Frenchman bagged his 10th goal in 12 games, bringing his season total to 13 in all competitions.

“He’s been in really good form this year and to get a hat-trick in the circumstances just shows how important he is for us,” he told Arsenal Player.

“We’re delighted with his contribution and hopefully he can keep up this goalscoring form that he’s in.

“He links up the play really well, he’s a good target man who can flick balls on, bring balls down and bring other players into play.

“He can score goals as well so he has a bit of everything.”

 

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the Gunners did not pick up any injuries during their 3-0 win over Olympiakos meaning the same squad of players will be available for Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa.

There had been a doubt pre-game in Athens about Mesut Ozil’s calf, while Olivier Giroud went over on his ankle before netting the second goal of his hat-trick. Both men are fit as the Christmas schedule picks up pace.

Of the players currently sidelined, Alexis Sanchez is the candidate to return first, however, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck and Francis Coquelin won’t be back until after Christmas.
Somewhat worryingly, the boss was quite emphatic about ruling Wilshere out for at least another three weeks: “There’s no chance he will be fit before the end of December,” was the boss’ assessment.

“He is quite positive,” was the update on Rosicky. “He is running outside but not ready yet. End of January.”

 

This morning’s newspapers are full of stories about how we’re targetting Victor Wanyama to help bolster our midfield in January.

The Southampton midfielder has long been linked with the club, and latest reports say that the Gunners are preparing a £15m bid.

Asked about him at his press conference this morning, the manager admitted he’s a player he likes but denied that anything was happening.

“I rate him as a player,” said the Arsenal manager, “but we are not on the case.”