Europa League Archives: 04/2018

Approximately 30 seconds, that’s all it took to pop the Emirates balloon that had refilled with the hope that something special was coming.

Despite most Arsenal fans packing away their belief in this side, the first leg against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final saw many get it out again, for 82 minutes at least.

If there has been a bigger game in recent years, then I can’t think of it.

Atletico Madrid’s Juanfran will miss both matches against Arsenal, handing the Gunners a boost ahead of the tie.

Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck were subjected to racist chants by the CSKA Moscow fans according to reliable reports.

Three Arsenal players have been selected by UEFA for their Europa League Team of the Week despite their poor showing in Moscow on Thursday night.

Diego Costa is aiming to be fit for Arsenal’s first leg clash against Atletico Madrid at Ashburton Grove on 26 April as he tries to recover from a ‘slight’ hamstring strain.

Arsenal shook off a comeback scare to progress to the Europa League semi-finals with a 2-2 draw against CSKA Moscow on Thursday night.

On Friday, Arsenal will hopefully be in the Europa League semi-final draw along with three other clubs from around the continent, so here’s the lowdown on what to expect from each one.

Charlie Nicholas predicts Arsenal will draw the second-leg of their tie against CSKA Moscow on Thursday night, and Aaron Ramsey will add to his brace from last week.

Arsenal face CSKA Moscow on Thursday night at the VEB Arena in Russia, with a three-goal lead and a place in the Europa League semi-final on the line.

Mesut Ozil collected two assists against CSKA Moscow, probably should have had at least five and generally strutted around the Ashburton Grove pitch with a swagger his talent deserves, so of course the first thing you will want to do when talking about him is tell everybody he is a flattrack bully, right?

David Ospina was dropped rather than injured ahead of Arsenal’s Europa League clash against CSKA according to a report in today’s Daily Mil.

Arsenal came flying out of the tunnel like a team with a point to prove and a competition to win on Thursday night. It was a display from this side that we know they are capable of but see far too rarely. It finished 5-1 but in reality it should have been at least double that. So how did the players do individually?

If you thought that Jack Wilshere had a poor game against CSKA Moscow while Aaron Ramsey blew them away then you are clearly not a reporter for the Mirror because they think the two players were at the same level on Thursday night.

A number of media outlets are reporting this morning that Arsene Wenger will do the sensible thing and opt for Petr Cech against CSKA Moscow rather than his cup keeper David Ospina.

Arsenal face CSKA Moscow on Thursday night at Ashburton Grove and will be hoping to put the tie to bed before a tough trip to Russia next week.

When David Ospina was named in the starting lineup in the Premier League game against Stoke at the weekend my first instinct was that he had been dropped from the Europa League as Wenger got serious about the competition.