Coach Arteta: 'Arsenal has enough depth to conquer the Champions League'

Coach Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal now has a significantly deeper squad compared to last year and is prepared to challenge for the 2025/26 Champions League after their 2-0 win against Olympiacos in the second group match.

'The Gunners' reached the semifinals last season before being eliminated by PSG. But this year, Arteta is showing more initiative in rotating and managing the squad, which was previously a weakness for Arsenal in European competitions. In the match against Olympiacos, the Spanish coach made six changes to the starting lineup, despite facing a tough opponent. Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Eberechi Eze were rested on the bench.

Nonetheless, Arsenal controlled the game and took the lead early at the 12th minute thanks to Gabriel Martinelli after a well-coordinated move. However, Olympiacos showed they wouldn't give up easily, forcing Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya to make a brilliant save against a shot from Daniel Podence, a former Wolves player.

The match only truly "cooled down" when Bukayo Saka, coming off the bench, scored the decisive 2-0 goal in the second minute of stoppage time. After the game, Mikel Arteta expressed his satisfaction: “Honestly, last season when looking at the bench, we had five academy players who might not have previously played professional football in the Champions League. That makes a difference.”

Arteta also explained the reason for the rotation: “Today we made six changes because I want everyone to participate and feel part of the team. And that’s great. We felt the players’ fitness drop after a very intense match against Newcastle a few days ago. The players who came on raised the team’s level and helped us win. That’s very positive.”

Arsenal created many threatening chances but wasted quite a few opportunities. According to Arteta, this is something the team needs to improve if they want to compete seriously in the Champions League: “We started well, scored a goal, and created clear chances. But if you don’t take them in this competition, you have to be careful.”

The match also brought personal emotions for Arteta as he faced his former coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, the Olympiacos manager. He added: “It was great to see him again. It was a bit strange because he was my coach when I was just 13. I learned a lot from him. Thank God we won. I wish him all the best.”

With two consecutive wins and a controlling style of play, Arsenal has shown they not only aim to get past the group stage but also aspire to replicate or even surpass last season’s deep run.

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