Following a good recent run of form on the domestic front, Arsenal resume their continental campaign on Thursday when they travel to Brittany to face Stade Rennais in their Europa League last-16 first leg tie.
Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the top four and consequently qualifying for next season’s Champions League have received a boost following a return of ten points from a possible 12 in their previous four Premier League matches.
Despite their strong showings in the league, Unai Emery will leave nothing to chance in his quest to deliver Champions League football to Arsenal and winning the Europa League, therefore, will remain high on his agenda.
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But the Spaniard will not tolerate any talk of tiredness.
“That is not an excuse for us,” Emery said. “We have the habit to play a lot of matches. We played on Saturday, had a day’s rest and then began working for the Rennes match. It is a very important match. We need to do it all individually and collectively.”
Their opponents have had a busy schedule themselves, having played more matches so far this season than any other French team thanks to their progress in the domestic cup as well as their longest European run.
But they host Arsenal on the back of a free weekend, the French Football Federation having postponed Rennes’s duel with Nîmes to help them prepare for Thursday’s match.
Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino suggested this week that he would welcome similar assistance from English authorities but Emery decided this is no time to lobby for help.
“If you ask me if I prefer more time then maybe yes, but for this match we don’t have any excuse because we have had time to prepare well. We have the players to share [the demands] and find the combinations to rest some players and have fresh players to give the best performance in the two matches [against Rennes and United].”