Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reacted to the Gunners’ stunning Europa League elimination at the hands of Olympiacos at Emirates stadium. The Gunners were left heartbroken after a stoppage time goal sent them out of the Europa League on away goal.
The Arsenal manager admitted it will be very hard for the Gunners to secure Champions League qualification via the Premier League after crashing out of the Europa League. The Gunners currently place 9th on the Epl table – a whole seven points behind Chelsea who sit in fourth place.
Former West Ham captain Matthew Upson who was a guest in the studio of BT sport, echoed the word of the Arsenal manager, the former England international believed the Europa League was the better route for the Gunners to return to the UEFA champions league.
Arsenal won the first-leg 1-0 thanks to Lacazette’s second half goal, but extra time was needed after Pape Abou Cisse’s restored parity for Olympiacos across two legs at the Emirates Stadium.
Aubameyang looked to have settled the contest. He scored one of the goals of the competition, an acrobatic finish into the top corner, within minutes remaining in extra time but Youssef El-Arabi silenced the Emirates stadium before the former surprisingly squandered a last gasp opportunity.
Winning the Europa League would have provided Arsenal access to the Champions League, having not played in Europe’s premier club competition since 2016-17, but the Gunners now face an uphill battle as they sit ninth in the Premier League seven points away from Chelsea in fourth.
The Gunners will not be in league action this weekend. The league match against Manchester City has been postponed to a later date as the Citizens will play in the League cup against Aston Villa on Sunday. Arsenal’s next match will be an Fa cup home game against Portsmouth.