The Arsenal U19 team got off to a blistering start to their NextGen European campaign by destroying Marseilles 3-0 at home, and the captain for that game Nico Yennaris, is looking forward to carrying on the form in tonight’s intimidating atmosphere at the home of Olympiacos in Greece.
Yennaris was lucky enough to be on the bench when the Gunners first team played at this stadium last season in the Champions League Group Stages, and he is really looking forward to a successful return. He said: “I was fortunate enough to be on the bench for the first team’s game at Olympiacos in the Champions League last year, so I have some knowledge of the stadium,”
“We travelled the night before to Greece, so obviously it was different to what I had been used to in the reserves and the academy.
“The whole experience was great from start to finish. When we got to the stadium the atmosphere was amazing, it was so loud. It was something different, it was European football and it was great to be part of.
“It was a good taster for me, and I hope to play in those games week in, week out. The hunger is definitely there after that.”
“Going away and playing games abroad is very different,” Yennaris said. “The fans can be quite hostile towards you, so it will be good for the guys to see what it is like.
“In England everyone knows what to expect, but when you’re abroad the fans are on you during the game – it will be a real learning curve for our team. It will be interesting to see how they deal with that.
“The weather will be warmer too, so we might have to slow down our game and be a bit smarter in how we go about things. If it is very hot, you can’t play at 100mph all the time. It will be a good test for us.”
“We set the bar high against Marseille, and we have high expectations,” Yennaris continued. “It was good to be captain for that game – it’s always great to get that responsibility. I feel like I am a senior player in this team, so it is good for me to help the younger lads.
“We knew it would be a different type of game against Marseille, as we were playing against a European team, but I thought we did really well.
“We all believe that we can do well in this competition. We have a good team and we want to show that against Olympiacos.”
Arsenal have drawn Olympiacos again in the senior Champions League yet again this season so if Wenger needs to call on any youngsters for that game at least they won’t be overawed this time around. The Gunners are often said to have one of the best Academy’s in the world, so this NextGen competition is a big chance to prove whether this is true or not. Let’s hope they carry on from the way they started……
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