Arsenal vs Villarreal preview: Crunch Time For The Gunners In Europa League Semi-final Second Leg

 

It's crunch time for Arsenal as they prepare for their Europa League semi-final second leg against Villarreal as their European hopes for next season hang in the balance.

The Gunners trail 2-1 from the first leg in Spain last week, but Nicolas Pepe's penalty handed Arsenal an away goal lifeline that seemed almost impossible after an hour.

A gritty determination and resilience sees Thursday's second leg at The Emirates finely poised, with Arsenal aiming to reach their second Europa League final in three years.

Their last appearance in the 2018/19 final came under Unai Emery - now the manager of Villarreal and with a sensational history in the Europa League.

Securing European football next season via the Premier League is looking like a difficult ask, with a Europa League victory Arsenal's best chance of a Champions League return for the first time in five years.

But if Arsenal are unable to find a comeback victory against Villarreal at The Emirates, they are poised to miss out on European football for the first time in 25 years.

Arteta says his side must tackle their semi-final second leg head on and emphasised the huge opportunity Arsenal have to win a trophy.

He said: "It's time to change it [the tie]. We have to embrace the challenge and the opportunity we have ahead. I think it's the 10th time that the club has been in a European semi-final, so it doesn't happen very often. We have to take the opportunity tomorrow and earn the right to be in the final.

It's a reality. It's not what we want, obviously, but there are a lot of things that have happened in that period, for many reasons. One is because the level is being raised to a level that is unprecedented in this league and we are not the only club that has been out of that. But obviously, we're not going to accept that situation and we want to change it straight away. This season, we still have the opportunity to do that.

Arteta on Arsenal's five-year absence from Champions League

"I'm not sure how they're preparing for the game. I think we spoke about this before the first leg and obviously, we conceded an early goal and that changed the game. Then there was a second one from a set play as well. We then had to play 40 minutes with 10 men and we'll see what happens. We have an idea of what they might try to do and we know what we want to do in order to get through. Then, of course, there are many games within the game tomorrow.

"We need to play better than we did in Villarreal. We're going to start with 11 players, something that we didn't have a chance to do in the last game and then we'll see what happens. There'll be many factors that come into it.

"It's a massive game for everybody but in particular for the club because we are here representing a football club and our fans. What we want to do is to do it in the best way by winning trophies. If we win tomorrow, we will be much closer to getting another trophy. This is the only aim and the purpose of us being here.

"It's a big moment again. Not for me, but for the club and for everything that has happened in the last two years and the last months. All the instability that we've been living with for many different reasons. So I think it will be really important and a big step forward if we are able to be in that final and have the opportunity to win that trophy."