Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has suffered defeat only once from his 10 fixtures in the Europa League thus far, and he will get the chance to correct that next month.
The Gunners will take on Olympiacos in the last 16 of the competition, the same team which eliminated our side from the Europa last season.
We won the opening leg against the Greek giants, a 1-0 win in Attica, only to come back to England for the second leg and fall apart. Olympiacos took the lead early into the second-half against the run of play, and our side simply couldn’t beat the goalkeeper.
We went into extra-time and took the lead in the tie once again thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Olympiacos once again punished our mistake by sealing the win on away goals at the death.
It was a painful defeat, and we will now be looking to avenge that when on March 11 when we travel to Greece again for the first leg, and while we will hope that Olympiacos can keep their record of being the only team to hold a win over Mikel Arteta as a boss, you wouldn’t expect Arsenal to take their opponents lightly.
The Gunners should be looking at their European chances as their priority after this favourable draw, and just three more opponents standing in their way should they eliminate Olympiacos in three weeks time.
Will Arsenal be looking back at last season’s fixture or will they be confident of stamping their authority on the tie?
Patrick