A scratch Arsenal side suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Olympiakos in their final Champions League Group F fixture, in a disappointing performance.
Arsene Wenger chose to leave the bulk of his first-team back in London, with only two members of the side that beat Wigan 4-0 at the weekend travelling to Eastern Europe.
First half goals from Rafik Djebbour and David Fuster gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage going into the break, and although Yossi Benayoun pulled one back for The Gunners on the hour mark, a late Francois Modesto strike gave the home team all three points.
Arsenal coach Wenger had no qualms with the defeat, and feels the side’s style of play was wrong on the night.
“I never like to lose and I have some regrets,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports.
“We must give credit to Olympiakos tonight because they played a very physical game and in the first half it was very difficult for us. And I don’t think we had the right tactical approach.
“We went too much for short balls and it was a game of contact.
“In the second half at 2-1 we looked like we might come back, but they were always dangerous and probably deserved it.
“Many of the players did not have experience in the Champions League
so were a bit surprised by the pace of the game,” he concluded.
Despite Olympiakos’ hard fought win they must make do with Europa League football, as Marseille came back from 2-0 down against Borussia Dortmund to win 3-2 at Signal Iduna Park and claim the runners up spot.
Arsenal now take on Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday in the Premier League.
By Gareth McKnight
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