With the Premier League title gone, Arsenal’s key remaining task in the competition is to qualify for next season’s Champions League, and they could do so this weekend.
Despite Tuesday’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal remain in contention to win the Champions League, only 1-0 down with the semi-final second leg to come. Should the Gunners win the competition, they’ll automatically qualify for next season’s edition of the tournament.
But if PSG prevail, Mikel Arteta’s side are going to need a top-five Premier League finish to qualify for the Champions League.
That’s not yet guaranteed, but Arsenal could secure top-five if results go their way this weekend.
The most realistic path to Champions League qualification is Arsenal beating Bournemouth on Saturday before champions Liverpool beat Chelsea on Sunday.
Only three clubs would still be able to overtake the Gunners at that point, leaving a fifth-place finish as the worst-case scenario, which is still enough for Champions League football.
A less likely possibility would be Nottingham Forest losing both Thursday’s match against Brentford and Monday’s match against Crystal Palace. Pairing those two results with an Arsenal win would again confirm Champions League qualification.
Arsenal could also guarantee a finish above Aston Villa before even kicking a ball, should Villa lose to Fulham on Saturday. But that wouldn’t change the equation much in Champions League qualification terms, with seventh-place Villa already outsiders to make it in.
The pressure to qualify for the Champions League is only going to increase the longer it remains possible for Arsenal to miss out.
The Gunners have upcoming games against Liverpool at Anfield and fellow Champions League hopefuls Newcastle United, and they won’t want to go into the final game against Southampton still needing a result.
Even should the Gunners win against PSG and reach the Champions League final, that game doesn’t take place until May 31st. It’s important to qualify through the league, rather than waiting and hoping for the Champions League run to bail the team out.