MX23RW : Friday, November 8 18:49:17| >> :60:34:34:
[monks data]
Attendance: 59,453
Arsenal logo
Europa League | Round of 16
Mar 14, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
Rennes

3-0

Aubameyang (5', 72'), Maitland-Niles (15')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Unai Emery "excited" by prospect of winning Europa League with Arsenal

Gunners reached the quarter-finals with a 4-3 aggregate win over Rennes.

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery insists winning the Europa League is more than just qualifying for the Champions League as he targets a trophy during his first season in charge.

The Gunners became the sixth and final Premier League club to qualify for the quarter-finals of this season's continental competitions as they overturned a 3-1 first-leg deficit to beat Rennes on Thursday night.

A Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace and just a second Arsenal goal for Ainsley Maitland-Niles secured a 3-0 victory which sent Emery's side through 4-3 on aggregate.

An all-English quarter-final against Chelsea is a possibility while Emery's former club Valencia remain an option – as do Napoli, Villarreal, Slavia Prague, Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt.

While success in the Europa League is seen by many as, first and foremost, a route back into the premier European club competition, Emery – who won the trophy three years in a row at Sevilla – knows it offers much more than that.

"The Champions League is very important but the Europa League grew up a lot and now is giving every team the possibility to play in the Champions League," he said.

Arsenal turned the tie around against Rennes
Arsenal turned the tie around against Rennes (Nick Potts/PA)

"In the domestic league, like here, we have six teams playing to be in the top four. Two teams are going out and the Europa League is giving us a big opportunity also to take one way to go to the Champions League.

"And also, it's one title. I said to the players today, I am excited about this competition. It's not just because you can get to the Champions League through this competition.

"It's also because it's one title and I think we can feel the possibility to win one title, doing this way with a difficult moment like today and playing also against big teams.

"But I think we can feel this competition like in the Premier League, to do a good way and create, with our supporters, a big atmosphere and a big feeling together to do this way in the Premier League and also here in the Europa League. Together and stronger."

Aubameyang celebrated his second goal, the third on the night, by donning a mask of Marvel superhero Black Panther.

In the past the striker has worn Batman and Spiderman masks to toast goals – but he explained why this time was a special moment.

"I needed a mask which represents me," he told BT Sport.

"It's the Black Panther and in Africa, in Gabon, we call the national team the Black Panthers of Gabon... It represents me."

Rennes had made the most of facing 10 men for 50 minutes of the first leg following the dismissal of Sokratis Papastathopoulos – turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 win.

While Sokratis was forced to sit out the second leg, Arsenal were able to call on Alexandre Lacazette after his three-match ban for a red card in the previous round was reduced to two games on appeal and, having already served both of those games, so took his place in the side.

Rennes boss Julien Stephan questioned that decision – as well as another possible sending off for Lacazette in north London and Aubameyang being offside for the crucial second Arsenal goal.

"On the offside, it was very clearly an injustice, it was an error," he said.

"That goal changed a lot of things. Regarding the Lacazette decision, the commission decided that his elbow against BATE was only worth a two-game ban.

Rennes manager Julien Stephan was unhappy with Lacazette's availability
Rennes manager Julien Stephan was unhappy with Lacazette's availability (Nick Potts/PA)

"There was a tackle by Lacazette in the first half which was borderline, for which he got a yellow.

"Then he made a challenge on (Ramy) Bensebaini which was also borderline, but the decision didn't go our way.

"There were quite a few things that went against us over the past couple of days. It's a learning curve for a club of our level, we don't have the power of Arsenal."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Mark Mann-Bryans, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '27ab519c-12b3-47f2-b2b7-6e87e04f5dce');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Unai Emery \u201Cexcited\u201D by prospect of winning Europa League with Arsenal'});

ID:353442: cacheID:353442:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:18253:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette gets a red Valentine's Day card in the Europa League clash with BATE Borisov on February 14, 2019
Read Next:
Lacazette suspension twist surprises Rennes boss Stephan
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Bengals
34-35
Ravens
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Lazio440012
2Ajax431010
3Anderlecht431010
4Frankfurt431010
5Galatasaray431010
6Spurs43019
7FCSB43019
8Lyon42117
9Rangers42117
10Olympiacos42117
11Bodo/Glimt42117
12Midtjylland42117
13Ferencvaros42026
14Man Utd41306
15Plzen41306
16AZ42026
17Besiktas42026
18Hoffenheim41215
19Roma41215
20Fenerbahce41215
21Elfsborg41124
22Braga41124
23Porto41124
24Slavia Prague41124
25Real Sociedad41124
26Malmo41033
27FC Twente40313
28Qarabag41033
29Union SG40222
30Nice40222
31RFS40222
32Ludogorets40131
33PAOK40131
34Athletic Club00000
35M. Tel Aviv40040
36Dynamo Kiev40040


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!