It's a gripping denouement to Group B of the 2012/13 Champions League, with much riding on the final night's action! Arsenal visit Piraeus this evening hoping to round off their first-stage campaign with a victory over Olympiacos. If they manage that, and if Schalke drop points at Montpellier tonight, Arsenal will top their section, and will therefore be assured of avoiding hot favourites Barcelona in the first knockout round. It is on!
That's the Uefa press officer's take on it, anyway. The more level-headed amongst you will have already written off this game as a crashing bore. Arsenal and Schalke are both already through, and while first place is a prize nominally worth having - it would be nice to bodyswerve Lionel Messi, sure - what is it really worth? Would the Gunners rather avoid the chance of drawing Porto or PSG? Malaga or Milan? Valencia or Bayern Munich? Borussia Dortmund or Real Madrid? It's not really worth fretting about, is it? So well done, Uefa, another triumph! And to think they're considering pumping another 32 teams into this already hideously distended competition. Christ's sake.
But let's do our little dance, get on the good foot, and join Uefa's jaunty jig. Arsenal have to win tonight if they're to grab top place in the group. They're only a point behind leaders Schalke, but even if the Germans lose in France, a draw won't do; Schalke own Arsenal on the head-to-head, having Swansea'd Arsene Wenger's side 2-0 at the Emirates, then clawed back a two-goal deficit against them at home. It's three points or bust for Arsenal, who must hope Montpellier, already out of Europe completely, rouse themselves to claim a point against Klaas-Jan Huntelaar et al.
So how desperate are Arsenal to prevail tonight? "You don't play Barcelona if you come top," says Wenger. So there you have it. Or perhaps you have it over here instead: they're resting Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker, have popped Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski into the garage for a service, and are thinking of giving the likes of Zak Ansah, Elton Monteiro, Chuba Akpom, James Shea and Sead Hajroivc their first-team debuts.
It is on! Except it's not, because Olympiakos have nothing much to play for either, as they're already in the Europa League. But hey, not everything has to be dripping with death-or-glory drama for us to enjoy it, hm? Hm.
Kick off: 7.45pm GMT, 9.45pm EET (local time in Piraeus).
The referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain). A smattering of big matches for the Spaniard, the pick of the bunch probably being Argentina's 2-1 win over Czech Republic in the 2007 Under-20 World Cup final, Sergio Aguero on the scoresheet that day. Whether his presence is a good omen for Arsenal or not is a moot point, as he was the whistler when these teams met here last December, the home side winning 3-1.
Another omen which doesn't particularly favour Arsenal: These two teams are in the same group for the third time in four seasons, and all five previous fixtures have been won by the home team.
And more bad news: While Arsenal are struggling domestically - their 21-point haul from 15 games represents their worst Premier League start since 1994/95 - their opponents tonight are flying at the top of the Greek league, having equalled the best start to a season in Greece's professional era with nine wins and a draw. They're ten points clear of PAOK in second, and are expected to spend large chunks of tonight's match looking quizzically at their nails and occasionally blowing on them.
Olympiakos: team to come.
Arsenal: team to come.
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