4 Great Arsenal Champions League Moments vs. Greek Sides

In the next round of Champions League fixtures Arsenal will face Olympiakos. The two teams need no introduction: the two sides have been drawn together in three of the last six seasons.

The Gunners have quite the history with Greek sides, having also faced Panathinaikos several times in the competition.

In this piece, we look at four fabulous moments from Arsenal’s encounters with Greek opposition.

Arshavin's Outrageous Flick in 2009

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Andrey Arshavin’s Arsenal career was largely disappointing, but it was still punctuated by some precious demonstrations of his incredible talent. One such moment arrived in 2009 against Olympiakos.

The match was just minutes from finishing, and Arsenal were leading through a strike from Robin van Persie. Arshavin, however, had been the game’s most-captivating performer, and was determined to leave an indelible mark on the match.

He did that by scoring a goal of true brilliance. When Cesc Fabregas sent in a low cross from the right flank, Arshavin produced an outrageous back-flick to deceive Antonis Nikopolidis and settle the tie.

The Centre-Backs See off Panathinaikos in 1998

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Tony Adams and Martin Keown were known for many things, but goalscoring was not one of them.

However, in September of 1998, the two gnarled centre-backs turned predators to score the goals that enabled Arsenal to beat Panathinaikos 2-1.

In a team including the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka, it was the defenders who became the unlikely heroes in front of more than 73,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.

To see both Keown and Adams on the same score-sheet made this win a special occasion for the Arsenal fans.

Aaron Ramsey's Impudent Chip in 2012

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Aaron Ramsey's goal against Olympiakos in 2012 was of little consequence. With the game in stoppage time, Arsenal already led by two goals to one.

However, this strike remains in the memory for the imagination and technical excellence required to execute it.

When Olivier Giroud flicked the ball on, substitute Ramsey had the reserves of energy required to race beyond the back four. Having done so, he produced a brilliant chip to leave the goalkeeper stranded and set the seal on Arsenal’s victory.

This confident finish was an early sign of the goalscoring instinct that Ramsey would go on to show on a regular basis in the following years.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Becomes Youngest English Champions League Scorer in 2011

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It was against Greek opposition that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain announced himself on the European stage.

In September 2011, he was an 18-year-old whose first-team experience had come largely in the third tier of English football. Nevertheless, he was picked to start against Olympiakos, and made a major impact as early as the eighth minute. 

Alex Song lofted a hopeful pass forward, and Oxlade-Chamberlain took it down on his chest and burst past three defenders before finishing smartly with his left boot.

Strangely, Oxlade-Chamberlain has struggled to replicate that sort of devastating attacking play in the years since. Goals and assists have not been easy to come by for the England international.

If he is to establish himself as a regular first-team player under Arsene Wenger, he must try to rediscover the killer instinct he showed when first emerging on the scene.