UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2011/12 SEASON MATCH PRESS KIT Arsenal FC Olympiacos FC Group F - Matchday 2 Arsenal Stadium, London Wednesday 28 September 2011 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Contents Previous meetings.............................................................................................................2 Match background.............................................................................................................4 Match facts........................................................................................................................5 Squad list...........................................................................................................................8 Head coach.....................................................................................................................10 Match officials..................................................................................................................11 Fixtures and results.........................................................................................................12 Match-by-match lineups..................................................................................................14 Competition facts.............................................................................................................16 Team facts.......................................................................................................................17 Legend............................................................................................................................20 Arsenal FC - Olympiacos FC Wednesday 28 September 2011 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Arsenal Stadium, London Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 09/12/09 GS Olympiacos FC - Arsenal FC 1-0 Piraeus Leonardo 47 29/09/09 GS Arsenal FC - Olympiacos FC 2-0 London Van Persie 78, Arshavin 86 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Arsenal FC 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 1 Olympiacos FC 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 1 2 Arsenal FC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 02/11/04 GS Arsenal FC - Panathinaikos FC 1-1 London Henry 16(p); Cygan 75(og) 20/10/04 GS Panathinaikos FC - Arsenal FC 2-2 Athens González 65, Olisadebe 82; Ljungberg 18, Henry 74 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 16/10/01 GS Arsenal FC - Panathinaikos FC 2-1 London Henry 23, 52(p); Olisadebe 50 26/09/01 GS Panathinaikos FC - Arsenal FC 1-0 Athens Karagounis 25 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 09/12/98 GS Panathinaikos FC - Arsenal FC 1-3 Athens Sypniewski 74; Boa Morte 64, 86, Anelka 80 30/09/98 GS Arsenal FC - Panathinaikos FC 2-1 London Adams 62, Keown 75; Pereira Da Silva 87 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 30/09/97 R1 Arsenal FC - PAOK FC 1-1 London Bergkamp 22; Vryzas 87 agg: 1-2 16/09/97 R1 PAOK FC - Arsenal FC 1-0 Salonika Frantzeskos 61 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 30/09/81 R1 Arsenal FC - Panathinaikos FC 1-0 London Talbot 53 agg: 3-0 16/09/81 R1 Panathinaikos FC - Arsenal FC 0-2 Athens McDermott 34, Davis 72 Olympiacos FC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 05/03/08 R16 Chelsea FC - Olympiacos FC 3-0 London Ballack 5, Lampard 25, Kalou 48 agg: 3-0 19/02/08 R16 Olympiacos FC - Chelsea FC 0-0 Piraeus UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 16/03/05 R16 Newcastle United FC - Olympiacos FC 4-0 Newcastle Dyer 18, Shearer 45, 69, Bowyer 54 agg: 7-1 10/03/05 R16 Olympiacos FC - Newcastle United FC 1-3 Athens P. Djordjević 14(p); Shearer 12(p), Robert 33, Kluivert 68 Last updated 27/09/11 00:43:01CET 2 Previous meetings Arsenal FC - Olympiacos FC Wednesday 28 September 2011 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Arsenal Stadium, London UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 08/12/04 GS Liverpool FC - Olympiacos FC 3-1 Liverpool Sinama Pongolle 47, Mellor 80, Gerrard 86; Rivaldo 27 28/09/04 GS Olympiacos FC - Liverpool FC 1-0 Piraeus Stoltidis 17 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 23/10/02 GS Olympiacos FC - Manchester United FC 2-3 Piraeus Choutos 70, P. Djordjević 74; Blanc 21, Verón 59, Scholes 84 01/10/02 GS Manchester United FC - Olympiacos FC 4-0 Manchester Giggs 19, 66, Verón 26, Solskjær 77 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 23/10/01 GS Manchester United FC - Olympiacos FC 3-0 Manchester Solskjær 79, Giggs 88, Van Nistelrooy 90+4 10/10/01 GS Olympiacos FC - Manchester United FC 0-2 Athens Beckham 66, Cole 82 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 07/12/00 R3 Liverpool FC - Olympiacos FC 2-0 Liverpool Heskey 28, Barmby 60 agg: 4-2 23/11/00 R3 Olympiacos FC - Liverpool FC 2-2 Athens Alexandris 65, 89; Barmby 38, Gerrard 66 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 08/11/72 R2 Olympiacos FC - Tottenham Hotspur FC 1-0 Athens Argiroudis 44 agg: 1-4 25/10/72 R2 Tottenham Hotspur FC - Olympiacos FC 4-0 London Pearce 11, 58, Chivers 35, Coates 48 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 01/12/65 R1 Olympiacos FC - West Ham United FC 2-2 Athens Bovington 58(og), Polihroniou 81(p); agg: 2-6 Peters 28, 53 24/11/65 R1 West Ham United FC - Olympiacos FC 4-0 London Hurst 23, 43, Byrne 65, Brabrook 82 Record versus clubs from opponents' country Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Arsenal FC 6 4 2 0 6 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 12 6 3 3 16 10 Olympiacos FC 9 3 3 3 9 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 18 3 3 12 11 41 Last updated 27/09/11 00:43:01CET 3 Previous meetings Arsenal FC - Olympiacos FC Wednesday 28 September 2011 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Arsenal Stadium, London Match background Arsenal FC's first home game in last season's competition produced a 6-0 victory and Olympiacos FC will be on their guard on matchday two, especially as they have conceded plenty of goals in England. • The Gunners were denied three matchday one points by a late Borussia Dortmund goal and had to settle for a 1-1 draw away to the German champions, while Olympiacos lost 1-0 at home to Olympique de Marseille. Previous meetings • The teams were also paired together in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage. Two goals inside the final 12 minutes from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin gave the Gunners a 2-0 victory at the Arsenal Stadium in the first meeting. The return fixture went the way of the Greek side thanks to Leonardo's lone strike early in the second half. • The lineups for the meeting in north London on 29 September 2009 were: Arsenal: Mannone, Eboué, Vermaelen, Gallas, Clichy, Diaby (Vela 77), Fàbregas, Rosický (Eduardo 66), Song, Arshavin, Van Persie (Ramsey 85). Olympiacos: Nikopolidis, Mellberg, Diogo, Zairi (Stoltidis 46), Żewłakow, Raúl Bravo, Dudu, A Papadopoulos, Leonardo (Óscar González 83), Ledesma (Mitroglou 79), Torosidis. • Arsenal are unbeaten at home against Greek opponents, winning five and drawing two. Overall they have lost just three of 12 fixtures with six wins and three draws. • Olympiacos have lost all nine away games against English sides, conceding 29 times and scoring just once. That sole goal came at Anfield in a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool FC on matchday six of the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League. • Olympiacos have won just three of 18 fixtures with English sides, losing 12. Match background • Arsenal – who finished fourth in last season's Premier League – owed their participation to a play-off victory, the fifth time in six seasons they have come through a qualifying round. Theo Walcott gave the London side a narrow home first-leg victory against Udinese Calcio. Although that was wiped out by Antonio Di Natale's first-half header at the Stadio Friuli, Van Persie restored Arsenal's aggregate advantage and, after Wojciech Szczęsny had brilliantly saved a Di Natale penalty, Walcott clinched progress. • Last season Arsenal reached the round of 16 where they went down 4-3 on aggregate to eventual champions FC Barcelona. It was the 11th successive season they had made it through the group and the first time since 2006/07 they had failed to reach the quarter-finals or better. • At home in the group stage Arsène Wenger's team embarked on a goal spree, following a 6-0 win against SC Braga with a 5-1 defeat of FC Shakhtar Donetsk. They finished by beating FK Partizan 3-1. • Olympiacos are in their 13th participation in the UEFA Champions League having missed out last season. Between 1997 and 2008 they competed in 11 successive years. • In 2009/10 the Greek champions finished second in their group, three points behind Arsenal. On their travels they failed to score a single goal, also going down 2-0 at R Standard de Liège before a 0-0 stalemate at AZ Alkmaar. In the knockout rounds, they lost 1-0 to FC Girondins de Bordeaux in Athens and 2-1 away, Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh scoring for Bordeaux in the second leg. Team ties • On 19 August 2006 Olof Mellberg, then with Aston Villa FC, became the first player to score a competitive goal at Arsenal's new stadium. The game ended 1-1, one of only two points Mellberg picked up in 11 Premier League meetings with the Gunners. • Bacary Sagna and Rafik Djebbour were together at AJ Auxerre from 2000 to 2003; Abou Diaby joined them in 2002. • Manuel Almunia and Pablo Orbaiz both started their career at CA Osasuna and played together in the Navarra club's B team in 1998/99. • Sébastien Squillaci and François Modesto were team-mates at AS Monaco FC for two seasons (2004-06). Modesto was also there with Park Chu-Young from 2008 until 2010. • Kevin Mirallas and Thomas Vermaelen play together with Belgium's national team.