Arsenal focus crucial for Wenger

• Arsène Wenger explains tactics after Arsenal revive Group F hopes by beating Bayern
• Arsenal manager points to his side's "focus and dynamism"
• Josep Guardiola "proud" of Bayern's "courage"

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager
We had an absolute necessity to win the game and we did it in an intense disciplined way. It was a top-level game between two very good teams. Bayern had more possession but we made it tight in our final third and caught them on the break.

In the second part of the game when we went longer, we could play more in their half. I think Bayern dropped a little bit physically in the second half. Overall we have beaten a very strong team and we kept a good level of focus, from the first to the last minute, and we kept a clean sheet.

When we played very high up we stopped them from playing. When we dropped to halfway they started opening us up a bit. So I dropped [Mesut] Özil a little bit deeper to make it tighter round the box and catch them on the break.

You never know if you will win the game, but you know that the team focus and dynamism is there; it has been for a while now. In the first two games we were below that level because we were focused on the Premier League, but we needed that tonight. 

Petr [Čech]was very important, he kept us in the game – you could also say the same of [Manuel] Neuer. You had two top world-class keepers on the pitch tonight and that was vital for both sides.

[This win] can strengthen our belief and the belief of people around us, our fans and supporters. It is important that you have a good balance between defending well and attacking. We need a result at Bayern in the next game. But let's focus on Everton now.

Mesut Özil after his clincher©Getty Images

Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
It was a good game, we didn't want to let them have the ball. We tried to dominate, we had our chances, enough to win this match – at least not to lose it. Congratulations to Arsenal for the win, we meet again in two weeks in Munich.

Some time you score and some time you have chances and don't; that's a mystery. Some time you win these games 1-0. In the end we played with a back three, we attacked everywhere, we had chances, we had control. But in the end Arsenal scored two goals and we got none.

I am proud of my team. I like to win, but we played with a lot of courage. I know you cannot expect to come here and not concede chances. Arsenal have very good players, fast players, but we were there with a lot of personality.

Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller©Getty Images

In the first half [Manuel Neuer] made some great saves – never have I criticised a player for taking a decision, correct or incorrect. This is football. We didn't lose because of Neuer.

I am frustrated because I cannot play! I would like to be there but our performance was OK, we created enough chances to win. In the first half, if we analyse the opportunities of both teams, they had two chances; we had three or four.

We did really well in the first 45 minutes; in the last ten we had problems controlling their players because we were in front of them too much, waiting for the ball. In the Champions League you have to be perfect in all areas and today, in some aspects, we weren't perfect. That's why we lost.