Mikel Arteta rages at Arsenal star as Olympiacos experiment falls flat

Mikel Arteta was seen giving Ben White a stern talking-to during Arsenal's 2-0 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League. The 27-year-old defender, who has been replaced in the starting line-up by Jurrien Timber, was given an opportunity to shine at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.

Just before Gabriel Martinelli put the Gunners in the lead, tapping in the rebound from Viktor Gyokeres' strike, White took a throw-in in front of his manager's technical area. As the right-back went to retrieve the ball, Arteta pulled him aside for a quick word.

The Arsenal boss was visibly upset by what he had seen so far. A few moments earlier, White had committed a foul after being outmanoeuvred by one of the Olympiacos forwards.

Much of the Greek side's play was being directed down his side, with Daniel Podence and Gelson Martins keen to challenge the Englishman. White was substituted for Timber in the second half, ending a challenging evening.

Just before the former Leeds and Brighton defender was substituted, Podence breezed past him far too easily. Luckily for White, Olympiacos missed their chance and Arsenal maintained their one-goal advantage.

Before the Olympiacos match, the right-back had only played twice for the Gunners this season; the first day of the new Premier League season and the third round of the Carabao Cup. It was White's first experience of European football since his brief appearance in the Champions League semi-final second leg back in May.

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Arteta was questioned on Monday about the increased pressure on his team to perform in the competition, following their defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in last season's semi-finals. The French titans went on to claim the European title, thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 at Munich's Allianz Arena.

Arteta responded: "We have the same ambition which is to go game by game and try to be better than the opponent, which is very difficult in this competition and win as many games as we can.

"Tomorrow we're going to have a really difficult one. We know how important the home form is going to be to reach in this phase where we want to arrive and tomorrow we have the opportunity to start well."

The Arsenal manager first experienced managing on the European stage when his side faced Olympiacos in the Europa League back in February 2020. Reflecting on the rematch with the Greek champions, Arteta said: "That's the beauty of football as well.

"I perfectly remember when we scored the goal, when we conceded the equaliser. The last chance that we had in the last second of the game as well to go through. What happened after that, as well, when COVID and everything hit, so it's part of the journey to get to where you are.

"It's a good example, like Willy [Saliba], to get where you want to get, sometimes you have to go through moments that you probably didn't expect to go through."