Arsenal’s Unai Emery says trophy win tops Champions League qualification
Unai Emery says winning a trophy with Arsenal is more important than securing Champions League football for next season.
Arsenal play Chelsea in Wednesday’s Europa League final in Baku, knowing a win will give them a direct route into the group stages of next year’s elite European competition.
But Emery says his primary motivation is winning a trophy, with Champions League qualification a secondary objective.
When asked on Tuesday if Arsenal have more riding on the final than Chelsea, Emery said: „I think no. Chelsea won this competition with Rafa Benitez and at that moment, there was not the possibility to go to the Champions League through the Europa League.
„The first objective in all teams in the world is to play for the possibility of winning a title. That is the first objective.
„The second is to help us achieve the Champions League through this competition.
„The first target for Arsenal and Chelsea is to play for our supporters and win for our supporters one title.
„We have a big challenge tomorrow, the most important target is to win the title and to play and enjoy one moment like that.“
Arsenal and Chelsea have not used all of their allocated 6,000 tickets due to issues with travelling all the way to Baku from London, but Emery said his players would feel the support in the stadium and be playing for their supporters everywhere.
„Tomorrow there are going to be a lot of supporters, first in England and second all over the world,“ said Emery.
„Here there can be a lot of supporters from Azerbaijan and near this country to support us.
„It’s one match with two great teams and I prefer to have our supporters, but we know we are going to play our supporters here or in London.“
Emery faces a number of selection issues, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan making himself unavailable over fears for his safety in Azerbaijan and a decision to make about whether Petr Cech should start the last game of his career in goal or on the bench.
Cech, who is set to rejoin Chelsea as sporting director this summer, has been picked ahead of Bernd Leno in the Europa League this season, but Emery would not reveal if the Czech goalkeeper will play on Wednesday night.
„I respect him a lot,“ said Emery. „His career is amazing, first as a person and as a professional goalkeeper.
„I think he deserves trust in him, not because I’m speaking to you here, but because his career says to us he is a gentleman.
„Tomorrow he can or cannot start, I am going to decide, but he deserves respect.
„It’s going to be his last match tomorrow because he decided to finish his career and I want to do something important with him.
„This was my conversation with him – I want to do something important in the last match of your career, playing or not playing.
„And really I think how can we not believe in him?“
Emery won the Europa League three times as manager of Sevilla, in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and could lift the trophy for an unprecedented fourth time in Baku.
The Spaniard said UEFA’s decision to give the winners a direct route to the Champions League has definitely improved the standard of the competition.
„When I played for titles and I won, I know in each moment I can win, I can lose,“ said Emery. „Tomorrow is the same, but really I am thinking to prepare the best possible team and to help them arrive at this moment and enjoy it with our supporters.
„I am not thinking only about me. I want to do something important here.
„We feel a lot this competition to do something together. Above all, it is to enjoy it and play with good spirit.
„Also, I think this competition is improving a lot, big teams playing the final in the last years.
„I hope that Chelsea against Arsenal can also be a final in the Champions League.
„They have and we have a lot of very good players, the best players in the world in these two teams and it is a good moment for football in the world.
„The Europa League has improved a lot in 10 years.
„One decision from UEFA has helped to improve it more and now in the last years, we play it with Sevilla, but also Atletico Madrid, Marseille, Manchester United, a lot of teams are playing this final as big, great teams in the world.“
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