Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says he would prefer to see Plympiakos go through to the next phase of the Champions League instead of Arsenal despite the fact that he likes to see English teams do well.
That’s because the Greek side are managed by his childhood friend, Marco Silva.
"I would always like English teams to qualify, first -- but they [Arsenal] are in a group where a kid friend of mine is the manager of Olympiakos, and it would be fantastic for the kid's career to go through,” said Mourinho.
“So I have to be honest and say that I would like the kid and Olympiakos to go on, and we know that [group winners] Bayern Munich go through for sure."
Victory over Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night gives Arsenal a fighting chance of making the knock-out stages by setting up a straight shootout with Silva’s side who are currently leading the Gunners by 3 points.
The Gunners travel to Greece in a fortnight’s time, but could yet be made to pay for the poor start they made in the campaign, However if Arsenal are to win the game they will be the one's to progress to the next phase of the UEFA Champions League.
Mourinho added: "It's not my problem, it's their problem, but the reality is first of all they can qualify, and secondly if they go into the Europa League then they become favourites," he said.
"So I think they can have success in the Champions League by going to the next round and they can succeed in the Europa League because then they become favourites. I think they have a lot to play for."
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