Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said he would like Olympiakos, rather than Arsenal, to progress from their Champions League group because he is friends with their coach Marco Silva.
Arsenal and Olympiakos are in a straight fight for the second qualifying spot in Group F after the Gunners beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 on Tuesday while Bayern Munich demolished the Greek team 4-0.
That has created what Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech called "a playoff" in Athens on Dec. 8, but Mourinho said he would like Olympiakos to progress because of his friendship with 37-year-old Portuguese compatriot 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.
"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."
Mourinho said he had no doubt Arsenal could qualify despite a disastrous start to the group that saw them lose at Dinamo Zagreb and at home to Olympiakos.
"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."