Breaking! Arsenal & Chelsea into Europa League Final

  • FT: Valencia 2-4 Arsenal (Agg: 3-7)
  • Gameiro puts Valencia ahead (11)
  • Aubemeyang fires leveller (17)
  • Lacazette puts Arsenal three clear (50)
  • Gameiro pulls one back (59)
  • But Aubameyang completes hat-trick (69, 89)
  • Europa League semi-final second leg

 

 

  • Chelsea reach Europa League final
  • Chelsea win 4-3 on penalties
  • FT: Chelsea 1-1 Frankfurt (Agg: 2-2)
  • Loftus-Cheek opens scoring (28)
  • Jovic levels matters (49)
  • Chelsea vs Arsenal in final on May 27
  • Europa League semi-final second leg

 

Football

Summary

  1. Chelsea and Arsenal into Europa League final
  2. Result: Chelsea 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt (2-2 agg) – Chelsea win 4-3 on pens
  3. Loftus-Cheek scores, Jovic equalises
  4. Result: Valencia 2-4 Arsenal (3-7 agg)
  5. Aubameyang hat-trick & Lacazette for Gunners
  6. Tournament winners get Champions League place
  7. Last all-English final in Uefa Cup/Europa League was 1972

 

MATCH STATS

  • This is the first time that all four places in the Champions League/European Cup and Europa League/UEFA Cup finals will be filled by one country.
  • Chelsea have won each of their last four penalty shootouts at Stamford Bridge, with this their first in European competition at home.
  • Chelsea have reached their first major European final since the 2013 Europa League, when they beat Benfica 2-1 under manager Rafael Benitez
  • Chelsea have never lost a home game against German opponents in all competitions (W7 D3).

 

VALENCIA TEAM NEWS

Team to play Arsenal: Neto, Gabriel, Gaya, Piccini, Garay, Guedes, Parejo, Coquelin, Wass, Gameiro, Moreno

Subs: Domenech, Roncaglia, Diakhaby, Lato, Soler, Torres, Mina

 

ARSENAL TEAM NEWS

Team to play Valencia: Cech, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang

Subs: Leno, Mustafi, Elneny, Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Guendouzi, Nketiah

 

CHELSEA TEAM NEWS: HAZARD STARTS

As expected, Eden Hazard starts for Chelsea after being a substitute in the first leg in Germany, while N’Golo Kante’s absence means Mateo Kovacic deputises in midfield.

Meanwhile, Europa League regulars Emerson Palmieri, Willian and Olivier Giroud all feature, with Gonzalo Higuain dropping to the bench.

FRANKFURT TEAM NEWS

Team to play Chelsea: Trapp, Falette, Hinteregger, Abraham, Kostic, Rode, Hasebe, Da Costa, Rebic, Jovic, Gacinovic

Subs: Ronnow, Ndicka, Chandler, Fernandes, De Guzman, Haller, Paciencia

 CHELSEA TEAM NEWS

Team to play Frankfurt: Arrizabalaga, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Hazard, Giroud, Willian

Subs: Caballero, Alonso, Zappacosta, Cahill, Barkley, Higuain, Pedro

Who qualifies for Europe?

The winners of the Europa League qualify automatically for next season’s Champions League.

In terms of that (and putting aside the prestige of winning an actual trophy), Arsenal need to win this tournament much more than Chelsea.

The Blues have already finished in the top four so have their Champions League place booked.

But the Gunners – who are unlikely to finish in the top four – need to win this tournament to qualify.

If Chelsea did win, then only four English teams get into next season’s Champions League.

If Arsenal win (and finish fifth or sixth) then five English teams will be in the Champions League.