Francis Coquelin says Arsenal had to beat Bayern Munich to stay in the Champions League and hopes that last night’s 2-0 victory is a blueprint for the European tests ahead.

At the halfway stage the Gunners still sit bottom of Group F, level on points with Dinamo Zagreb and three behind both Olympiacos and Pep Guardiola’s men, however, with a win under their belt they now have a foundation on which to mount a qualification charge.

Reflecting on a memorable night at the Emirates, Coquelin praised the discipline of the defence and the manner in which his teammates shook off a lack of possession to hit Bayern on the break.

“It is always difficult against Bayern but I thought we started well and we created a big chance with Theo in the first half but we didn’t put it in the net,” he told Arsenal Player.

“The second half was always going to be tough but Olivier scored a great goal and after we felt that we could keep the heat on and after the second it was game over.

“We knew Bayern would have a lot of the ball, but in the recent games against the big teams we have not had as much possession and counter-attacked. It worked well again here and everyone defended really well and we didn’t concede any goals, so I am really pleased with the performance.

“In the first two games we didn’t perform and we knew we had to win here to stay in the competition. We have been doing really well in the league and we had to do that in the Champions League too, and we have done that so we have to carry on in that way.”

Yes, we do Francis. Yes, we do.

As we’re in a stupendous mood this morning, we thought we’d also treat you to some new Coq pics. The man really knows how to celebrate a goal…