Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny believes the Europa League is still a highly-esteemed competition despite not being the continent’s premier knockout tournament.
Koscielny, 33, has listed the likes of Napoli, Chelsea and Valencia as indication of the Europa League’s significance and strength.
Is the Europa League a “big competition”? Five key things to know…
- The Champions League is Europe’s elite knockout tournament, and winning the competition is often seen as the pinnacle of club football.
- However, the Europa League is still regarded as a huge competition, not least because winning it gains access to the Champions League for the following season.
- Arsenal are not assured a top-four finish this season and so will view the competition as a viable route into the Champions League.
- Unai Emery has an exceptional Europa League record, winning the competition three times with Sevilla.
- Koscielny believes his teammates are not missing Champions League football because they are still competing in a ‘big European competition’.
The Gunners are teetering on the brink of a European exit following a dismal 1-0 defeat to BATE Borisov last week, but Emery’s men will have the chance of redemption when they play host to the Belarusian outfit on Thursday.
Arsenal will need a positive result to progress to the round-of-16, and given the current Premier League climate, Emery may deem this competition as his most realistic chance of achieving Champions League qualification.
As such, Koscielny believes the club are still competing in a “big competition” despite not featuring in the Champions League for two years now.
Asked whether the team are missing out by not being in the Champions League, Koscielny told reporters: “No, no, the Europa League is still a big competition.
“It is still a European cup, but of course when you are in the Champions League you want to be in there every year and next season we want to be in the Champions League.
“But the Europa League this season still has a lot of big teams, it is a top-level tournament, there is Chelsea, Napoli, Valencia so it I think it is a big competition, more than last year, and every year it is more intense.
“Last year Atletico Madrid won the cup, so for us it is big opportunity to go in the Champions League.
“Now we have a game in front of us like tomorrow to get to the next rounds and try to get to the final and be in the Champions League next season.”
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“The pitch was difficult”
Arsenal was cumbersome and error-prone in the first leg, firing a blank and seeing Alexandre Lacazette sent off in the dying embers at the Borisov Arena, but Koscielny believes his side were not helped by the conditions of the terrain.
The Gunners will be allowed to embrace a more free-flowing style under the Emirates lights on Thursday and the Frenchman went on to highlight to togetherness and focus in the squad to get the job done.
He said: “The first game was difficult because we went to BATE with ambition and wanted to win. During the game, you never know what can happen.
“The pitch was difficult as well. Now the reality is we are 1-0 down and we know the game we want to play tomorrow, we have the quality to qualify and go to the next round.
“Each player is focused and it is a very important game because it is a chance to get to a final and get into the Champions League.
“Everyone is together and that’s the most important thing for tomorrow.”
The post “It’s a big competition” – Koscielny defends Arsenal’s Europa League place appeared first on Squawka News.
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