Arsenal’s hat-trick hero Olivier Giroud is aiming for a quarter-final spot after the Gunners swept into the last 16 with a 3-0 win away to Olympiakos last night.
The French international hit all three goals in Greece to give Arsene Wenger’s side the margin of victory they required to finish second behind Bayern Munich in Group F and qualify for the knockout stages.
“It’s fantastic for me and the team. We’re really pleased to go through. It’s nice to go through the group stage because we weren’t in a good position and finally we’ve done it. We’re pleased for the fans and we’re relieved tonight,” said Giroud.
“Champions League games are one level up and we needed to be focussed as a unit, be together, show good cohesion, defend well and finish well. It’s nice for us but it wasn’t easy in this stadium and this atmosphere.
“We want to go as far as we can. The target is to reach the quarter-final for me personally and I think it’s the same for the team. This is the fourth year I’ve been here and I’ve never played a quarter-final. We’ll see the draw but we’ll have a good rest and then open the new page of the Champions League in February.”
Chelsea made it three Premier League sides through to the knockout phase as they topped Group G with a 2-0 home win over Porto.
Champions League Last 16
Group winners: Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Zenit St Petersburg,
Group runners-up: Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma, Arsenal, Dynamo Kiev, Gent
