Arsenal vs Valencia: Why a week of Champions League miracles should impact upon Unai Emery’s game plan tonight

After the madness at Anfield and in Amsterdam, safe first leg leads simply no longer exist in European competition as the Gunners eye a Europa League final

Luke Brown
Valencia
Thursday 09 May 2019 07:15 BST
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Unai Emery not taking anything for granted after Arsenal beat Valencia

It was all anybody in Valencia could talk about on a warm Wednesday evening. Forget team news, reaction to Arsenal’s dismal draw with Brighton last weekend, or a good natter on the exact value of the Europa League. Because how could anybody present realistically be thinking about anything other than Liverpool’s incredible comeback win over Barcelona from the night before?

At Valencia’s Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna training ground, on the outskirts of the city, Marcelino did his best to skirt around the inevitable slew of Liverpool-themed questions. Had he watched it? Did the result inspire him? Would it impact on his tactics come Thursday night? Around two hours later, in the Mestalla’s extremely cramped press room, Unai Emery found himself in a similar predicament.

“We know that it will be very difficult here,” he replied, when asked whether the Liverpool result had demonstrated how precarious his side’s 3-1 lead was. “And we know that not only from Tuesday night, but other games in the past.”

But that was before the second helping of European carnage. Before Lucas Moura, Tottenham’s third-choice forward, had rolled back the stone and scored a deliriously improbable second-half hat-trick to fire his club into the Champions League final. Before Ajax’s band of courageous kindergarteners had sunk to their haunches, paralysed by grief. Before Mauricio Pochettino had roared and danced and screamed and sobbed.

And — suddenly — because of two utterly irrelevant events that took place hundreds upon hundreds of miles away, Arsenal’s lead over Valencia in the semi-finals of the Europa League no longer looked quite so secure.

In theory: Liverpool and Tottenham’s success should in no way impact on tonight’s fixture on the east coast of Spain. True, the sight of Spurs in a European final will pain every self-respecting Arsenal supporter, but the players are professionals. Some will have compatriots and good friends representing the other half of north London. Others will not even have bothered to watch the game.

Marcelino was certainly keen to play down the impact of Barcelona’s crushing exit. “Each game is different,” he glowered. “We do not have to eliminate Arsenal because Liverpool eliminated Barça. We will do it because our players are convinced that they can do it.”

Fair enough. And yet there can be no doubt that those two rousing comebacks have fundamentally altered the psychology of tonight’s tie. The miracles of Anfield and Amsterdam has categorically proven that, no matter how commanding they might once appear, European leads are never truly safe. Valencia will have just a little bit more belief than they did previous. And Arsenal just that little bit more doubt.

Both results have demonstrated the folly of attempting to preserve a lead by inviting waves upon waves of pressure. If Arsenal are to progress, they need to attack. “Our idea is to play the match to win,” Emery explained. “And if you want to win, you need to score. [Valencia] are a very aggressive team and well structured defensively — but they need to score. So our idea is to do both and take our chances.”

While Arsenal will naturally be spooked by how Barcelona and Ajax’s once daunting leads evaporated into nothingness in the the warm evening’s air, they can also take heart from the dizzying success of their English counterparts on the continent. Neither Liverpool nor Spurs are the best side in the Premier League — and yet the two sides still raised their games to conquer Europe’s finest.

A pair of all-English European finals is not only possible — but probable. And Emery is convinced that, like Liverpool and Spurs, the prospect of continental glory can fire his side to new heights.

Arsenal are just one game away from a European final

“This is an attractive title and it is getting more attractive: now we have seen Manchester United, Atlético and Sevilla win,” he argued. “The demands are high and everyone wants it, as a title, not just a way in [to the Champions League]. At any club like Arsenal or Valencia, titles have to be objectives [in themselves].

“Arsenal only have two European titles in their history: the old Fairs Cup and the Cup Winners Cup, neither of which now exist, so I have a lot of ambition to win a title.”

How it must gall Emery that the success of his his meticulously planned maiden season at Arsenal, after so much grand talk of a ‘new beginning’ and ‘grand project’, will ultimately be defined by just two matches. And yet here we are. Win the Europa League, and this frustratingly slipshod season will be deemed a success. Lose, either tonight or later this month in Baku, and it has been a failure.

Either way: he would be a fool to have his side sit back on the 3-1 lead they established at the Emirates. Arsenal must now show they are capable of what Barcelona and Ajax are not, and press home their initiative rather than succumbing to the underdog.

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