London, Nov 30 (IANS): Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has praised his side after they romped into the knockout stages of the Champions League by sweeping Lens aside 6-0 in north London on Wednesday.

Arsenal's 6-0 win was the biggest-ever victory by an English team against a French opponent in European competition.

"I didn't even dream like this," Arteta told reporters. "We had the chance to qualify today and be top of the group and I think we've done it in a really convincing way.

"The team from the beginning showed a lot of aggression and determination to go for the game. Everything happened in the right way in the first 30 minutes."

Arsenal easily advanced to the Champions League knockout stages with a 6-0 victory against Lens at the Emirates. The Gunners were the first English team in the competition to score five goals in the first half of the match.

Prior to Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard joining in on the wild display, Kai Havertz opened the scoring. After dominating the first half, Mikel Arteta's team scored a sixth goal from the penalty spot due to Jorginho.

After a dominating victory in front of their home supporters, they have officially topped Group B and will make it to the round of 16.

However, Arteta was convinced that his side had been showing a similar form at home for a while, and he welcomed the fact that six different players had got their names on the score sheet.

"The consistency that we've shown at home to not concede any goals and score lots is a really positive factor," he said.

"Those players need to have those experiences and believe that we can do it against those opponents."