Tag: UEFA Europa League

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UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE: ARSENAL ADVANCE DESPITE HOME DEFEAT TO OLYMPIACOS

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a number of clear-cut chances as the Gunners made heavy weather of progressing to the Europa League quarter-finals against 10-man Olympiacos.

Holding a 3-1 victory from the first leg in Greece, a poor display saw Mikel Arteta’s side lose 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium but advance on aggregate.

Arteta opted to recall Aubameyang after axing his captain for the north London derby win over Tottenham four days earlier following a breach in pre-match protocol.

But the skipper would pass up a number of opportunities to kill off the tie, with Youssef El-Arabi scoring in a third successive game against Arsenal to earn the Greek champions victory on the night despite the dismissal of Ousseynou Ba.

It had been a similar story in the round of 32 meeting between the sides last year, El-Arabi scoring the last-minute goal to send Olympiacos through as Aubameyang missed a sitter with virtually the last kick of the game.

Thankfully for Arsenal, the work had been done a week earlier in Athens this time around but Arteta will know they need to be much better in the next round if they are to keep alive their hopes of lifting the Europa League.

Arsenal created the better chances of a dull first half, Nicolas Pepe bursting through on goal and taking the ball around Jose Sa – but his effort was just about cleared behind for a corner by former Arsenal defender Sokartis Papastathopoulos.

At the other end, Bernd Leno was called into action for the first time as a long goal-kick completely wrong-footed the Arsenal defence with El-Arabi seeing his shot saved.

The hosts should have taken the lead at the midway point of the first-half, Aubameyang exchanging passes with Dani Ceballos before firing over.

Olympiacos would open the scoring after coming out for the second half on the attack.

El-Arabi would again be the man to get the goal as he converted past Leno with the aid of a deflection off Gabriel Magalhaes.

Arteta reacted by replacing Mohamed Elneny and Ceballos with Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard.

But the first hour of the game was summed up when Kieran Tierney’s low cross was hammered goalwards by Pepe – only for it to cannon up and over off the head of Emile Smith Rowe.

Arsenal were suddenly all at sea, giving away possession in their own half, unable to make forward passes in more dangerous positions and struggling to go toe to toe with a side they comfortably beat last week.

When they did break through on goal, they were wasteful – Odegaard ballooning over a good opportunity to level on the night.

Not for the first time, Aubameyang then missed a glorious chance, bursting free from the half-way line but poking a chipped effort well wide of the target.

The Olympiacos bench had been noisy all evening but was apoplectic when referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande sent off Ba with a little under 10 minutes to go.

The defender caught Arsenal substitute Gabriel Martinelli with a stray arm to earn a caution – with the second yellow following straight after as he protested against the initial decision.

Ba watched on from the tunnel, visibly upset and being consoled by backroom staff.

Aubameyang meanwhile, continued to miss good chances, seeing a flick from six yards saved before acrobatically volleying the rebound over the top.

Arsenal saw out the remainder of the game to advance, but it was not the sort of performance to appease Arteta.

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ORSIC HAT-TRICK HELP DINAMO ZAGREB DUMP TOTTENHAM OUT OF EUROPA LEAGUE

Mislav Orsic scored a brilliant hat-trick as Dinamo Zagreb produced a remarkable fightback to dump Tottenham out of the Europa League.

The Croatian side trailed 2-0 after the first leg of their last-16 tie but hit back to win the return 3-0 after extra time and snatch a place in the quarter-final draw.

Jose Mourinho’s Spurs looked set to prevail after holding the hosts in a goalless opening half at the Maksimir Stadium but Orsic gave Zagreb hope with a fine long-range just after the hour.

He then levelled the tie by finishing off a fine team move seven minutes from time and capped a fine comeback following a superb solo run in extra time.

Spurs upped the tempo in a frantic finish but Dinamo held on for a deserved win.

North London rivals Arsenal were also below par but did enough to go through despite a 1-0 defeat to Olympiacos at the Emirates Stadium.

Youssef El-Arabi, who also scored in the first leg, grabbed the only goal on the night but Mikel Arteta’s side held on for a 3-2 aggregate win.

The visitors’ hopes effectively ended when Ousseynou Ba was sent off for a second bookable offence seven minutes from time.

Roma cruised through as they claimed a 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in Kiev to win 5-1 on aggregate.

Spanish striker Borja Mayoral scored both goals for the Italian side either side of a reply from Junior Moraes.

LaLiga side Granada reached the last eight despite going down to a last-gasp defeat at the hands of Molde in Norway.

An own goal from Jesus Vallejo and a last-minute penalty from Eirik Hestad gave the Norwegians a 2-1 success but Granada, who scored a crucial away goal through substitute Roberto Soldado, progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: UNITED, MILAN SETTLE FOR STALEMATE

Teenage substitute Amad Diallo opened his Manchester United account in style but Simon Kjaer’s stoppage-time header denied Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men victory against AC Milan in the Europa League.

The eagerly-anticipated last-16 clash between these European heavyweights produced drama on Thursday night and set-up an interesting return fixture at San Siro next week.

Half-time substitute Diallo’s superb, improvised header looked to have secured a hard-fought first-leg win at Old Trafford, only for Kjaer’s last-gasp header to seal Milan a deserved 1-1 draw.

In truth, Solskjaer’s side would have been fortunate to be going to Italy in the lead given how the absentee-hit Rossoneri outplayed the hosts for large periods

United looked a shell of the side that impressively won at Manchester City on Sunday and Franck Kessie was denied an early opener when the video assistant referee contentiously ruled he had handled.

The hosts were second best throughout the opening period but inexplicably failed to go into the break ahead as unmarked Harry Maguire met a flicked-on corner with a shinned effort that hit the post.

Substitute Diallo did better when expertly heading in from Bruno Fernandes’ quickly-taken free-kick, but Milan secured a potentially crucial away goal at the death when Kjaer capitalised on United’s inability to defend set pieces.

Milan deserved this result at Old Trafford, where they played impressively despite being without the likes of former United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Theo Hernandez and Ante Rebic among others.

Rafael Leao saw a fifth-minute opener ruled out for offside as Stefano Pioli’s men started on the front foot, with the Rossoneri finding the net again in the 11th minute.

United were caught napping as Kessie controlled a throw-in from the right and continued to hit a smart strike past Dean Henderson to send the depleted visitors wild.

There were few complaints about the goal as the teams lined up for kick-off, only for Solskjaer’s men to be given a surprise reprieve as VAR Bastian Dankert surprisingly cancelled the goal out for a Kessie handball.

It was a controversial decision but Milan continued unflustered, with Alexis Saelemaekers proving a handful as Manchester City academy graduate Brahim Diaz probed.

Rade Krunic mishit an effort before Saelemaekers tested Henderson as the Rossoneri continued in the ascendancy, leading skipper Maguire to angrily admonish his team-mates.

A smart early Anthony Martial effort tipped over by Gianluigi Donnarumma was the best the hosts had mustered until Maguire wasted a glorious chance to score an undeserved 38th-minute opener.

Alex Telles swung in a corner that Fernandes flicked on to the far post, where the unopposed United skipper somehow failed to convert from point-blank range as the ball spun off his foot and away from goal.

The hosts will have been relieved to hear the half-time whistle after a torrid first half, with Diallo emerging in place of Martial when the teams re-emerged.

This was just the 18-year-old’s third substitute appearance for United but he made quite the impact, putting the hosts ahead within five minutes of coming on.

Diallo darted between Chelsea loanee Fikayo Tomori and Diogo Dalot, who is on loan from United, to meet Fernandes free-kick with a fine back header over Milan goalkeeper Donnarumma.

It was a gut punch for the impressive visitors, who could have gone further behind had it not been for a timely block on Daniel James.

Milan eventually rallied and began to exert pressure again, with Kessie denied by Henderson before Krunic somehow failed to get a Davide Calabria cross on target.

James turned a whipped cross badly wide as the heavens opened and play became stretched, with Milan screaming for Scott McTominay to pick up a second booking as the clock wound down.

The Rossoneri pushed relentlessly for a leveller and grabbed an away goal in stoppage time.

Nemanja Matic lost Kjaer when a corner came in to get away a header that Henderson should have kept out.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: ARSENAL TWO LATE STRIKE SEE THEM THROUGH AGAINST OLYMPIACOS

Arsenal struck two late goals to beat Olympiacos and take control of their Europa League round of 16 clash – having almost proved architects of their own downfall once again.

The Gunners will defend a 3-1 lead at the Emirates Stadium next week and were good value for their win in Greece.

Martin Odegaard’s first Arsenal goal had them ahead only for another defensive calamity to gift Youssef El-Arabi the equaliser just before the hour.

Arsenal were rocked but recovered well and would hit two goals in six minutes as a Gabriel Magalhaes header and a fine strike from substitute Mohamed Elneny earned a good victory.

Mikel Arteta saw his side dumped out by Olympiacos at the round of 32 stage last season despite winning the opening leg in Greece but will be hoping lightning does not strike twice.

Arsenal were back at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium for the second time in a fortnight, having hosted the ‘home’ leg of their tie against Benfica on the outskirts of Athens due to current coronavirus travel restrictions.

The Premier League side have now won more Europa League knockout stages at the home of Olympiacos than the reigning Greek champions themselves – but they made it harder for themselves than was necessary

Odegaard was again deployed as Arteta’s number 10 but he missed a fine early chance to put the visitors ahead, scuffing a shot wide after being picked out by Kieran Tierney.

If the Norway international was guilty of a poor miss, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was denied soon after by a fine Jose Sa save as the Olympiacos goalkeeper tipped his header onto the crossbar.

The hosts had started slowly but were beginning to edge into the contest and Bruma should have done better when gifted possession by Odegaard, the winger only able to shoot straight at Bernd Leno.

It was a number of sloppy moments for the Real Madrid loanee but he would make amends by thrashing Arsenal in front.

Thomas Partey played the ball into Odegaard in a central position and his arrowed shot flew in off the wrist of Sa – who would have been disappointed not to keep out the strike.

Olympiacos were almost level as Arsenal were again caught trying to play out from the back, David Luiz’s pass being closed down by Giorgos Masouras, who then shot wildly wide of goal.

That was just a hint of what was to come as Arteta’s men would all-but present Olympiacos with their equaliser.

Just like at Burnley on Sunday, Leno played the ball short and into the feet of Dani Ceballos – fresh off the bench.

He was closed down quickly, losing possession as El-Arabi levelled with a crisp finish past an out-of-position Leno.

El-Arabi’s last-gasp winner sent Arsenal out of the competition last season and he almost doubled up for the night, only to see a shot blocked behind when well placed.

Arsenal regathered their collective poise and again began to dominate proceedings as their former defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos – deemed not good enough to even be registered by the club before leaving for Greece in January – led the defensive drive for the home side.

But they could not hold on to take a draw to London next Thursday as Willian collected a short corner and crossed for Gabriel to send a looping header over Sa to re-establish the lead.

Elneny came off the bench after Gabriel’s effort and his first involvement was to curl home a low effort from outside the box and put his side firmly in the driving seat and send them into Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham with a win.

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DELE ALLI STARS AS TOTTENHAM PROGRESS TO EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 AFTER THRASHING WOLFSBERGER 4-0

Jose Mourinho saluted Dele Alli after the Tottenham midfielder ensured his side can still save their troubled season with a virtuoso display in Wednesday’s 4-0 rout of Austrian minnows Wolfsberger in the Europa League last 32 second leg.

Alli scored a brilliant opener early in the first half and provided the assist when Carlos Vinicius doubled their lead after the break.

Gareth Bale netted from another Alli assist before Vinicius bagged his second as Tottenham ran out 8-1 aggregate winners after cruising to a 4-1 victory in the first leg last week.

While progress to the last 16 looked a formality after the comfortable first leg success, nothing has come easy for Tottenham this term.

So Mourinho will have breathed a sigh of relief that his team kept alive their best remaining hope of qualifying for the Champions League.

Close to leaving in the January transfer window, Alli played the key role in a rare start after being frozen out by Mourinho for much of the season.

“The goal I don’t need to speak, because everyone watched it and I believe that all around the world on all these sports TV, people are going to watch it, no need to talk about it,” Mourinho said.

“But for me the globality of the performance is what matters. He played very well in every aspect of the game.

“Of course he’s not fresh, of course you can feel that his performance like in the first leg from minute 55-60 is going to go down, which is normal due to the circumstances – injured, not training for a long time.

“But in this moment when we are going to play every three days, 10 matches in March, to have Dele back at this level is amazing.”

A dismal run of six defeats in their last eight games in all competitions had seen Tottenham plunge to ninth place in the Premier League and crash out of the FA Cup.

They are languishing nine points behind fourth placed West Ham in the race for a top four finish, while Mourinho is mired in the worst run of his career.

Amid reports that Tottenham’s players are bored with his training sessions and conservative tactics, Mourinho this week insisted his methods are “second to none”, claiming morale among his squad was still high.

But the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss is likely to face the sack unless Tottenham can salvage their woeful campaign by reaching the Champions League.

Realistically that means winning the Europa League and Tottenham remain on course, even if much sterner tests lie in wait in the later rounds.

Mourinho says Tottenham’s travails only underline how “beautiful” the rest of his career has been.

Whether the final verdict on his rocky spell at Tottenham will be so flattering may be determined by the end of the season.

Tottenham were regulars in the top four and reached the Champions League final under Mourinho’s predecessor Mauricio Pochettino.

But Pochettino, now in charge at Paris Saint-Germain, was sacked by chairman Daniel Levy after a poor run of results last season and Mourinho could easily suffer the same fate.

Well aware that some media critics and Tottenham fans claim he is past his best, the prospect of a humiliating exit against unheralded Wolfsberger was unthinkable for Mourinho.

For once, his players didn’t let him down.

Alli put Tottenham ahead after just 10 minutes in eye-catching style.

When a loose ball fell to him 15 yards out and with his back to goal, Alli sent a superb bicycle kick looping into the far corner.

Vinicius benefitted from Alli’s excellence five minutes after half-time when the on-loan Benfica striker met the midfielder’s precise cross with a clinical far post header.

Bale came off the bench to fire into the top corner after another Alli assist in the 73rd minute.

Ten minutes later, teenager Dane Scarlett stole possession and teed up Vinicius to score from 12 yards.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: UNITED THRASH REAL SOCIEDAD, GARETH BALE STARS IN TOTTENHAM WIN

Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Manchester United romped to a 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad in their Europa League last-32 first leg on Thursday, while Gareth Bale impressed for Tottenham in a 4-1 thrashing of Austrian side Wolfsberg. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United are all but into the last 16, with four ‘away’ goals to take into the return game in a week’s time, after the first leg was played in Turin due to coronavirus travel restrictions. “We know 4-0 is a good result but we have to be aware of what they can do,” Fernandes told BT Sport. “My target is to score the most goals I can, that is my position. The only target is to win trophies.”

The Premier League outfit grabbed the lead in the 27th minute when Fernandes pounced on a defensive mix-up to slot in from Marcus Rashford’s clipped pass.

Solskjaer’s men doubled their advantage 12 minutes into the second period as Fernandes stroked home his 21st goal of the season.

The effort was initially ruled out for offside before the linesman’s decision was overruled by VAR.

United continued to play at a pace Sociedad could not deal with and Rashford finally got his goal in the 65th minute following a blistering counter-attack started by goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

The tie was surely put to bed in the final minute of normal time as Daniel James raced clear and fired into the bottom corner.

BALE STARS
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett had said on Wednesday the Wales winger was “towards the end of his career”, after Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho had questioned the player’s Instagram post suggesting he was in good health despite being unavailable for Spurs’ FA Cup defeat at Everton last week.

But Bale notched his first Tottenham assist since April 2013 to tee up Son Heung-min for the opening goal in Budapest against Wolfsberg, before drilling in the second before the half-hour mark.

A wonderful individual strike from Lucas Moura extended Spurs’ first-half lead, and although Michael Liendl pulled one back for the Austrians with a second-half penalty, the English club have one foot in the next round after Carlos Vinicius’ 88th-minute goal.

“I have a really close relationship with him (Bale),” said Son. “I’m very happy he’s getting game time and scored a goal and got an assist. I really enjoy playing with him.”

Mourinho has never lost a knockout tie in the competition, which he won with Porto in 2003 and Man United in 2017.

AC MILAN, ARSENAL HELD

AC Milan, who have not reached the quarter-finals of any European competition since the 2011-12 Champions League, had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Red Star Belgrade.

Milan, who face Inter in a top-of-the-table Serie A derby on Sunday, were pegged back as Milan Pavkov netted a dramatic 93rd-minute leveller for Red Star, who played the closing stages with 10 men.

Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka continued his excellent season as his sixth goal of the campaign cancelled out Pizzi’s penalty in a 1-1 draw against Benfica at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

“I feel like I’m improving every game. I’m trying to impress, trying to learn,” said Saka. “I just want to keep progressing.”

Ligue 1 leaders Lille conceded twice in the final three minutes to lose 2-1 at home to Ajax.

Timothy Weah, son of former Ballon d’Or winner George, put the French team ahead with 18 minutes to play, but Dusan Tadic’s penalty and a goal from teenager Brian Brobbey put the Dutch champions on top after the first leg.

“It’s good that I scored but I’m not happy because we didn’t win,” Weah told RMC Sport.

Leicester, sitting third in the Premier League, were held to a goalless draw at Slavia Prague, but there was plenty of excitement elsewhere.

Bayer Leverkusen fought back from three goals down only to lose 4-3 to Young Boys in Bern, while Olympiakos beat PSV Eindhoven 4-2 in Piraeus

Borna Barisic netted two penalties, including the winning goal in the last minute, as Steven Gerrard’s Rangers snatched a thrilling 4-3 victory at Royal Antwerp.

Molde came back from 3-1 down to draw with Hoffenheim, while Edin Dzeko’s early goal helped Roma to a 2-0 win at 10-man Braga and Napoli lost 2-0 to Granada.

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EUROPA LEAGUE: SOCIEDAD’S ADNAN JANUZAJ KEEN TO START AGAINST FORMER TEAM MANCHESTER UNITED

Real Sociedad winger Adnan Januzaj is relishing the chance to show the club he loves what they are missing when lining up against Manchester United in the Europa League.

The world appeared to be at his feet when he broke into the Red Devils’ first team as teenager, marking his full debut with a match-winning brace against Sunderland in 2013.

But Januzaj’s blistering start eventually fizzled out, with his stock falling and Jose Mourinho taking the decision to sell him after forgettable loan stints at Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland.

The Belgium international joined Sociedad in 2017 for a fee rising to £9.8million, with United including a buyback clause for a player that has been rejuvenated in Spain and is excited to be facing his former team.

“I love United a lot,” Januzaj said ahead of Thursday’s Europa League first-leg meeting, which is taking place in Turin due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“They’re my favourite club, and even to this day I watch every single game of theirs because I love the club.

“Obviously, when I saw that I would have to play against United, it was a bit of a weird feeling.

“But at the end of the day I want to play them and try to beat them, to show them also what they have missed and stuff like that.”

Januzaj swapped Belgium for the north-west of England aged 15 and soon knew he had made the right decision, saying his best memories to date came during his time with United.

There are still a few familiar faces at the club from his time at Old Trafford such as Paul Pogba, who he “grew up with” and has kept in close contact with throughout the years.

“We play PlayStation together so we don’t really talk (then) – but sometimes I tease him a little bit via video call (about this tie) because we are in contact a lot,” Januzaj told UEFA.

“It will be weird (to play against him) because off the pitch we are amazing friends, and we have such good, close contact.

“We have known each other from a young age. We grew up at United together, we’ve gone through a lot of things.

“So having him in front of me – it’s good that we don’t play in the same position!

“I don’t think we will have much contact between each other, but obviously for my part I want to win that game.”

In-form Sociedad are fifth in LaLiga but head into the tie as underdogs, with United the bookmakers’ favourites to win the competition let alone progress from this last-32 tie.

“If we beat United, then I think we have a bigger chance – the biggest chance to win the Europa League,” Januzaj added.

“For me, United right now – the United of today – is the toughest opponent in the Europa League that you could get.

“We know we can make everything happen in this Europa League campaign and we have a lot of things to show people.”

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MAN UNITED, ARSENAL EUROPA LEAGUE TIES CHANGED TO NEUTRAL VENUES

Manchester United and Arsenal’s Europa League last-32 first legs next week will be played at neutral grounds due to coronavirus restrictions.

United were due to travel to Spain to face Real Sociedad next Thursday, while Portugal was the venue for the Gunners’ clash with Benfica on the same night.

But UEFA has announced that United will now take on Sociedad at Juventus’ Allianz Stadium in Turin following Spanish government restrictions on travellers entering the country from England.

A statement read: “UEFA would like to thank Real Sociedad de Futbol and Manchester United FC for their close co-operation and assistance in finding a solution to the issue at hand, as well as the Italian Football Federation and Juventus for their support and agreeing to host the match in question.”

The PA news agency understands Arsenal will play Benfica in Rome as the UK implements strict coronavirus quarantine rules around people returning from Portugal.

The second leg of United’s tie will take place at Old Trafford as planned the following week, but Arsenal’s home game will have the same issue as their away trip, with Benfica barred from entering the country. No decision has yet been taken on a venue for that match.

The developments come after Liverpool and Manchester City also had Champions League ties due to be played in Germany moved to Budapest.

Liverpool’s clash with Leipzig on February 16th and City’s encounter with Borussia Monchengladbach on February 24th will now both take place at the Puskas Arena in the Hungarian capital on their respective scheduled dates.

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UEL: IHEANACHO STARS AS LEICESTER THRASH BRAGA 4-1.

Kelechi Iheanacho scored twice as Leicester thrashed Braga 4-0 to keep up their perfect start in the Europa League group stage.

A touch of fortune helped Iheanacho bundled in an opener 20 minutes when Matheus could not hold his heavy touch and allowed him to tap in from close-range, with a significant deflection off Bruno Viana helping his 25-yard drive beat the goalkeeper again two minutes into the second period.

He turned provider with a wonderfully disguised pass from a shooting position to tee up Dennis Praet midway through the half (67) before James Maddison got on the scoresheet after evading Raul Silva’s challenge with 12 minutes remaining.

The victory moves Leicester three points clear at the top of their Europa League group, ahead of their visitors, with three wins from three games – and already on the verge of qualifying for the knockout stages.

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OZIL MISSING IN ARSENAL’S EUROPA LEAGUE LINE UP.

Arsenal will not include Mesut Ozil in its Europa League lineup when the final squad is announced on Thursday, a report said. The veteran midfielder has not played a single minute since the games resumed after the lockdown.

Ozil is the highest-paid player on the club, earning an estimated $452,000 a week, BBC reported.

The Europa League only allows 17 non-locally trained players in the 25-man lineup. Goal reported that Mikel Arteta decided to leave out Ozil and defender Sokratis to make room in the squad.

Ozil last featured for the Gunners in the win against West Ham in March before the football season was suspended due to the global pandemic. Throughout the 31-year-old’s career, he’s served Arsenal in 254 games, netted 44 goals and tallied 77 assists. But while he’s been with the Gunners since 2013, he hasn’t been utilized much in 2020.

When asked why the German player hasn’t been seeing action on the field, Arteta replied by pointing out how their team is changing.

“The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving. This is where we are at the moment. We want to evolve more and play better and compete better,” Arteta told a news conference in September.

“You can see that the players we are changing, we are using, it’s very difficult every week not just for Mesut but for some other players as well to make the squad. Every week we try to pick the right players,” he continued.

The Arsenal manager added that he wants to give other players more time and experience as well.

“It’s difficult for others as well that aren’t involved in the Premier League and didn’t play tonight either. We have a squad of 26, 27 players at the moment and we can’t give playing time to all of them,” the 38-year-old coach shared.

“I understand and I respect your questions but I have to try to do my job as fair as possible. I try to select the players that are, in my opinion, in better condition,” Arteta concluded.

Arsenal’s Europa League campaign will start on Oct. 22 when the club faces Rapid Wien in Austria.