Arsenal manager Unai Emery is keen to win the Europa League to gain that Champions League which is more or less impossible to gain in the Premier League.
After a 1-1 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion, Arsenal’s top four hopes are more or less over as they need to beat Burnley at Turf Moor and hope that Tottenham lose to Everton by a considerable margin.
Now, Arsenal’s best shot at Europa League qualification is by winning the Europa League. The Gunners beat Valencia in their first semi-final leg and play the second one tonight.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Emery said, “We started with two possibilities: one is through the Premier League and the second is through the Europa League. We have finished in the Premier League and it is not a possibility for us now but we are in this competition and we will see tomorrow. We want to play the Europa League because it is a title first and secondly because of the Champions League [place].
I first competed for this title here at Valencia when it was still the Uefa Cup and was a lesser title than I think it is now. It has grown. It’s an important title for all those teams not in the Champions League, one they all want to win. Getting a Champions League place through the Europa League is a fair reward, I think. It’s an attractive title and it’s getting more attractive: we’ve seen Manchester United, Atlético, Sevilla against Liverpool. The demands are high and everyone wants it, as a title, not just a way in [to the Champions League].
At any club like Arsenal or Valencia, titles have to be objectives [in themselves]. Arsenal only have two European titles in their history: the Fairs Cup [in 1970] and the Cup Winners’ Cup [in 1994], neither of which exist any more, so I have a lot of ambition to win a title.”
