For all the progress Arsenal have made under Mikel Arteta, there is one shadow that continues to loom over the club in European competition: Olympiacos at the Emirates Stadium.
On Wednesday night, the Gunners welcome the Greek champions for their second Champions League group-stage clash, but history has given this fixture an unusual edge.
Arsenal may boast superior resources, talent, and form, but Olympiacos have proved themselves stubborn spoilers in north London, with an astonishing record of three consecutive wins at the Emirates across various competitions.
A Curse Written in History
Arsenal’s painful memories against Olympiacos are hard to ignore. The most recent came in March 2021, when a Youssef El-Arabi strike earned Olympiacos a 1-0 Europa League victory on English soil.
Though Arsenal advanced 3-2 on aggregate, the defeat added to a growing narrative that the Emirates is anything but a fortress when Olympiacos are in town.
Such repeated setbacks have created more than just a statistical quirk; they have fostered a mental block. In Europe, reputations matter, and Olympiacos arrive with the knowledge that they can unnerve Arsenal in their own backyard.
Olympiacos Form: Consistency and Ruthlessness
Arsenal’s challenge will be made tougher by the fact that Olympiacos arrive in excellent form. So far this season, the Greek giants have played seven matches, recording five wins and two draws, with one of those draws coming in their Champions League clash against Pafos FC.
Domestically, they have been just as ruthless. In five league fixtures, Olympiacos have won four and drawn one, averaging a sharp 2.6 goals per game. Defensively, they’ve been equally solid, keeping three clean sheets and conceding just three goals in total. This balance of attacking firepower and defensive resilience underlines why they cannot be underestimated, no matter how strong Arsenal look on paper.
Why This Arsenal Team Is Different
Despite thisOlympiacos being currently impressive, this is not the same Arsenal that stumbled in years gone by. Arteta’s current squad carries both the flair and the resilience to turn the tide.
New arrivals Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, and Martin Zubimendi have added fresh dynamism to a side already brimming with quality.
In addition, their recent victories, a comfortable 2-0 win over Athletic Club in the Champions League and a spirited 2-1 comeback against Newcastle in the Premier League, have shown a team capable of handling adversity and striking with precision.
Arsenal’s evolution is evident: where once they were vulnerable to Olympiacos’ tactical tricks, they now possess multiple weapons to counteract them. And for Arteta, this clash is about more than qualification points; it’s about exorcising a ghost.
Ending Olympiacos’ Emirates stranglehold would send a message that Arsenal have grown beyond their past European insecurities.
