Mathieu Flamini is hopeful that Arsenal can avoid facing Barcelona in the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

Arsenal managed a great escape by claiming a 3-0 victory over Olympiacos on Wednesday night and the victory meant that the Gunners scraped their way into the knockout stages of Europe's top club competition.

Having finished second in their group though, there is a big possibility that Arsenal could face defending champions Barcelona in the knockout stages which is something Flamii would like to avoid.

Flamini said: "We obviously don't want Barcelona as they are a top team. But for the rest, we will see. We played Monaco last year and we thought it would be a bit easier maybe, and it was not the case, so whoever we play we will give 100%.

"We showed great spirit against Olympiakos and I think it was the perfect performance as we did not concede any goals. We had a good balance. We had the chance to prove to everyone that we have the qualities of being a top team in the Champions League. We did it playing some good football."