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Arsene Wenger Says ” Ozil’s Nightmare Is Over”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims Mesut Ozil is finally over the mental torture of his nightmare penalty miss against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Wenger feels his £42.5m record signing is now fully focused once more as he prepares to head out to the Allianz Arena for Wednesday night’s second leg clash against Bayern.

Ozil was heavily critcised for missing his spot-kick in what proved to be a turning point as the Bundesliga side won 2-0 after Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the first leg at the Emirates.

“I think it affected him mentally too much, the penalty he missed against Bayern. It was not only physical, it was mental,” said Wenger.

“He had the feeling he let the team down at a very important moment of the game, that affected his performance very much.

“Psychologically sometimes the wound is like a physical one. You can talk and talk and talk, but it takes time. You just have to leave it to time.

“I think he is over it. He has a good opportunity to show on Tuesday night how good he is.”

The German scored his first club goal since the start of December in the 4-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton on Saturday and Wenger hopes Ozil can now go on to add a cutting edge to his game.

“I would like him to find the right balance between being a provider and finisher,” the Arsenal boss said.

“At the moment the balance is a bit detrimental to the finishing.

“His strong side is providing, but he is pacey, much quicker than people think he is, and with that technical quality and that pace, if he gets into the right areas and with the service he has, he can score goals.”

During the international break, Ozil was jeered by some German supporters as he came off in the win over Chile in Stuttgart.

But Wenger does not feel it is long before Ozil will have everyone back onside.

He said: “Ozil is hugely respected in Germany, but we live in a society where the period of time is very short between the boos to the applause. We have to live with that.”