Arsenal manager Arsenal Wenger was delighted with his side's performance in a 4-1 Champions League victory over Basel that clinched top spot in Group A, saying the team could feel "less guilty" if they have a bad draw.
Wenger's team have been perennial second-place group stage finishers in recent years, which has inevitably led to a last-16 exit against a top-seeded opponent in the knockout rounds.
But the win, combined with a shock 2-2 draw between Group A rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Ludogorets at the Parc des Princes, sees Wenger's team sit atop their group in Champions League play since the 2011-12 season.
Lucas Perez was on target twice within eight first-half minutes to get the Gunners up and running at St Jakob-Park and completed his hat trick two minutes after the break.
Alex Iwobi added a fourth for Wenger's side 53 minutes in, with on-loan Roma striker Seydou Doumbia netting a consolation for the hosts with 12 minutes remaining.
Wenger told BT Sport: "We made a great result to be top of this group which is what we wanted.
"We did the job I think in a convincing way, we were mobile, we started very well, we scored goals on all our accelerations and overall we had a convincing performance."
With the last-16 draw taking place on Monday, Wenger was pleased to go through as group winners, but remained apprehensive about his side's next opponents.
He added: "It's difficult to know [the advantages of finishing top] -- you feel a bit less guilty. If you have a bad draw [it can be] when you're first or second. At least we have done our job and let's see what happens."
Wenger reserved some praise for Spanish striker Perez, saying: "I think he took advantage of the fact that we created good chances, but he's a goalscorer. He scored over 20 goals in Spain and that's no coincidence.
"So overall I think that he's shown that he has a good smell for a goal in the box."