Arsenal And Chelsea Ready For Europa League Battle In Distant Baku
In the first of all English European finals, Chelsea face London rivals, Arsenal for the Europa Cup title.
advertisement
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 battle it out 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) to Azerbaijan's capital, by the Caspian Sea.
However, there will not be much of an English atmosphere at the 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 which holds almost 70,000.
The distances and costs involved and the difficulty in getting to Baku have prevented more fans from travelling, while Arsenal are also handicapped by the absence of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
He decided not to travel because of fears over his safety due to an ongoing political dispute between Azerbaijan and his home country, Armenia.
"It is not in my hands. They have their reason to play here and I must respect this decision," said Arsenal coach Unai Emery on Tuesday.
Emery's players have promised to try to win the trophy for Mkhitaryan, and the stakes are certainly high for the Gunners.
After finishing fifth in the Premier League, two points behind Chelsea in third and one point behind Tottenham, Arsenal have to win to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Whether that in itself is more important than winning a European trophy is another matter.
In Emery, though, they have a coach who won this competition three years running with Sevilla.
"All teams' first objective is to play to win a title. I think that is the first objective, and then there is also the fact that it helps you to achieve the Champions League," Emery reasoned.
Sarri Storms Off
Despite the pressure, Emery appeared calm ahead of the game. In contrast to his counterpart, Maurizio Sarri, who stormed off the pitch at the Olympic Stadium during a training session on Tuesday evening that was open to the media.
Television cameras caught the Italian angrily throwing away his baseball cap as he headed for the tunnel shortly after a moment of friction between 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.
Night of Farewells?
He is still to win a major trophy, but he has already steered the Blues to a return to the Champions League and also took them to the League Cup final, where they lost on penalties to Manchester City.
The game could also be Eden Hazard's last as a Chelsea player amid reports he will finally move on to Real Madrid.
"I can speak about Petr Cech a lot, but above all he's a great man, a great professional," Emery said. "I want to do something important, with him playing or not playing." Bernd Leno is the other option in goal, while Chelsea are sweating 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.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)