In Greece’s port city, Mikel Arteta could be forgiven for thinking his ship had come in. He had asked his young Arsenal players to block out the heat generated by the raucous, relentless atmosphere that makes this one of Europe’s most difficult venues for the uninitiated and their response, after an unnerving start, formed the latest step in the increasingly convincing revolution that is breathing life into a troubled campaign. Olympiakos had begun as if determined to blow their opponents away and, in doing so, effectively stop Arsenal’s hopes of Champions League qualification in their tracks. Winning this competition seems, by some way, their best chance of returning to the top table but for 15 minutes they were rabbits in the headlights and the priority at that point was simply to stay in the tie. They did that with steadily increasing levels of assurance and then, nine minutes from time, scored a goal that may look especially significant by the end of May. Continue reading...
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