Arsenal and Chelsea ready for Europa League battle in distant Baku

The build-up to the Europa League final has been marred by the controversy surrounding UEFA’s choice of venue, but it is now time for the football to do the talking as familiar foes Chelsea and Arsenal prepare to do battle in the unfamiliar setting of Baku on Wednesday.

Two and a half weeks after the Premier League season ended,here is a London derby exported almost 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) toAzerbaijan’s capital, by the Caspian Sea.

   

It is the first leg in a week of European finals dominatedby England, with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur contesting the ChampionsLeague showpiece in Madrid on Saturday.

However, there will not be much of an English atmosphere atthe Baku Olympic Stadium when the match kicks off at 2300 local time (1900GMT),with reportedly only around 6,000 tickets sold by the clubs in a ground whichholds almost 70,000.

The distances and costs involved and the difficulty ingetting to Baku have prevented more fans from travelling, while Arsenal arealso handicapped by the absence of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

He decided not to travel because of fears over his safetydue to an ongoing political dispute between Azerbaijan and his home country,Armenia.

“It is not in my hands. They have their reason to play hereand I must respect this decision,” said Arsenal coach Unai Emery on Tuesday.

“Yes I prefer to play with our supporters here. I’d preferit if a lot of supporters from us and from Chelsea could come here from London,but it’s difficult.”

Emery’s players have promised to try to win the trophy forMkhitaryan, and the stakes are certainly high for the Gunners.

After finishing fifth in the Premier League, two pointsbehind Chelsea in third and one point behind Tottenham, Arsenal have to win toqualify for next season’s Champions League.

“For a club like Arsenal we have to be in the ChampionsLeague. It’s an amazing and important game because we want to give us, the fansand the club the Champions League back,” said midfielder Granit Xhaka.

Whether that in itself is more important than winning aEuropean trophy is another matter.

Arsenal have not been in a European final since 2006 andhave not won a continental trophy since lifting the Cup Winners’ Cup 25 yearsago.

In Emery, though, they have a coach who won this competitionthree years running with Sevilla.

“All teams’ first objective is to play to win a title — Ithink that is the first objective, and then there is also the fact that ithelps you to achieve the Champions League,” Emery reasoned.

Despite the pressure, Emery appeared calm ahead of the game.In contrast, his opposite number Maurizio Sarri looked anything but as hestormed off the pitch at the Olympic Stadium during a training session onTuesday evening that was open to the media.

Television cameras caught the Italian angrily throwing awayhis baseball cap as he headed for the tunnel shortly after a moment of frictionbetween David Luiz and Gonzalo Higuain.

Sarri, who has been heavily linked with a move to Juventus,had earlier said winning the final would turn a “very good season” into a”wonderful” one.

He is still to win a major trophy, but he has alreadysteered the Blues to a return to the Champions League and also took them to theLeague Cup final, where they lost on penalties to Manchester City.

The game could also be Eden Hazard’s last as a Chelseaplayer amid reports he will finally move on to Real Madrid.

It will definitely be the last game for Arsenal goalkeeperPetr Cech, who will retire afterwards at the age of 37. A Chelsea great whocrossed London in 2015, he has been tipped for a return to Stamford Bridge inan upstairs capacity.

“I can speak about Petr Cech a lot, but above all he’s agreat man, a great professional,” Emery said. “I want to do somethingimportant, with him playing or not playing.”

Bernd Leno is the other option in goal, while Chelsea aresweating on the fitness of midfielder N’Golo Kante.

“Kante has a very little problem with his knee. The problem is the timing, but we are trying,” said Sarri.

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