Wenger: Maybe this is Arsenal's lucky year in Europe!

Arsene Wenger says this could be Arsenal’s lucky year in the Champions League after they secured their spot in the knockout stages with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos in Greece.

The Gunners went into their final Group F game knowing they must win by two clear goals to stand any chance of progressing after earlier defeats to to the Greek side and Dinamo Zagreb.

An Olivier Giroud hat-trick gave Arsenal all three points to ensure the Gunners finished second in the group and Wenger could not hide his delight at his side's performance.

"I'm proud of consistency, it demands a lot of effort every day," he told BT Sport.

"Now we have escaped, maybe it's a lucky year for us in the Champions League. If you look at the players who were out today, and the performance we produced, it was absolutely outstanding."

After opening their campaign with two successive defeats, Arsenal had looked set for an early exit from the competition and Wenger paid tribute to the way they came back to take their place in the next round.

"Yes [it was Arsenal's greatest escape under Wenger]. I must say I'm very proud of the team, we needed to be right on the mental side and the tactical side," he added.

"At 2-0 we needed to push for the third goal. We had the perfect game.

"You don't need to single him [Giroud] out tonight because he scored the goals. He showed character as well, the penalty was important. And I'm happy for him because he did well again."