Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal will finish first in group or face punishment

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned his players that they are likely to be punished if they fail to finish in top position in their Champions League group.

A comprehensive 2-0 opening defeat for the Gunners against Borussia Dortmund in Germany left Wenger's side on the back foot and while wins against Galatasaray and Anderlecht have put them back in track for qualification, they are trailing in the race for first place in Group D.

Arsenal have faced tough draws in the first knock-out phase of the Champions League over recent seasons after failing to top their group and Wenger is keen to avoid that fate once more ahead of his side's game against Anderlecht on Tuesday.

"I don't know exactly how it is in the group, but it is always better you finish first because in some way you feel guilty if you don't finish first," Wenger told reporters.

"People think if you are punished you deserve it, because you finished second. We're playing at home and we have an opportunity to win the game and we want to take this opportunity. We are on a good run and we want to take advantage of that.

"Anderlecht is a team who is certainly more dangerous away from home because they are good on the break. So let's do it and then see. I think if we win tomorrow we have a good chance to be qualified."

Wenger went on to address his side's defensive frailties in recent weeks, as he insisted back-to-back clean sheets in their last two Premier League games against Sunderland and Burnely is not evidence that their woes at the back have been solved.

"Sometimes maybe we wanted too much to win games so we didn't get our priorities right," said Wenger. "But it's only two games with clean sheets so we shouldn't go overboard.

"I'm an attacking manager, but when you need to score four goals to win the game it's one hell of a mountain to climb," he added. "To attack with freedom you need to also think, 'OK I can go,' and be sure you will be secure defensively.

"In the modern game as well the physical levels have gone up -- everyone is quicker -- so you cannot guarantee that you will score three or four goals in every game. I don't think teams attack much better, but they defend much better than 10 years ago.

"We also had to change our defence quite a lot. We have [Laurent] Koscielny out now, [Mathieu] Debuchy is out for a long time and [Kieran] Gibbs and [Nacho] Monreal have also been missing.

"It's always important to find the right balance. The players are the players at the end of the day, and I make the decisions. I believe it was more a question of patience, and a desire to win the game.

"The decisive game was Manchester City at home, when we were 2-1 up and conceded a goal at a corner because we were not focused. From then on we had some doubts."

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