Arsenal and Chelsea will face-off this evening in the Europa League final, and manager Unai Emery will hope to secure a silverware he knows how to win once again.
The Spaniard led Sevilla to three Europa League triumphs in a row, and with Champions League football for next season also to play for against the Blues, there is much more at stake this time around.
Arsenal will be without midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the game, due to injury and political reasons respectively, and missing the duo is a huge blow for Emery.
With the Wales international leaving for Juventus this summer, the clash would have been the perfect last-game for him in the Gunners shirt.
Emery revealed Ramsey could have prevented the injury that ruled him out of the Europa League final had he not rejected his advice to rest for the Watford clash.
He picked up a knock three days later in the second-leg of the quarter-final against Napoli.
Nevertheless, the Arsenal boss believes the 28-year-old exemplifies the mentality he has tried to instill in the squad all season.
“When we played against Tottenham, I was speaking with him and I said: “Aaron, I am getting to know you and I know these matches against Tottenham and I want to do the last part of the season doing something important. For example, Tottenham [in March] is very important because it is the derby but also, there was the possibility… we were 10 points behind them in this moment, more or less,” he told Standard Sport.
“And if we won, it reduces the difference and we said: ‘OK, we want to do something important for our target.’ And really, his response to me and the team was very good. After, the problem is injuries.
“He wanted to do something important in the Premier League and the Europa League. He is with the same spirit I transmit to the team.”
Ramsey was one of Arsenal’s best players this season, and despite agreeing to a pre-contract with the Serie A giants in January, he continued to give his all on the pitch.
He definitely will be greatly missed tonight and next season.
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