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Football London
Football London
Sport
Chris Wheatley

Why Arsenal's Europa League match against Olympiacos will not have to be played at a neutral venue

Arsenal and Olympiacos will play their Europa League last 16 clash at their respective stadiums.

The Gunners' round of 32 match against Benfica was switched after the UK government imposed strict travel restrictions on arrivals from Portugal. The first leg was moved to Rome's Stadio Olimpico whilst the second took place at the Georgios Karaiskakis in Greece.

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Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson had warned earlier in the week that the COVID-19 threat "remains substantial" but has begun to plan for a lifting of restrictions due to the "extraordinary success" of the vaccine roll-out.

Schools are set to reopen on March 8 and more importantly Greece is not on the red list of countries from which entry to the UK is banned.

That means that Arsenal will be once again able to travel to Athens for the first leg on March 11, whilst the return game will be hosted at Emirates Stadium one week later on March 18.

Mikel Arteta's side were knocked out by Olympiacos at the same stage last season and will be looking to exact revenge on their Greek opponents for inflicting a painful defeat at Emirates Stadium.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's last minute winner secured Arsenal's passage into the round of 16, whilst Ahmed Hassan struck a similarly late goal for the Greek side in their victory over PSV.

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