The Independent - Daily Edition
September 1, 2018 Saturday


Why Mkhitaryan could miss match against Qarabag & Europa League final

by  LUKE BROWN



Unai Emery faces a possible selection headache over Armenian
international Henrikh Mkhitaryan, after Arsenal were drawn in the same
Europa League group as Azerbaijani side FK Qarabag.

Mkhitaryan was forced to miss a previous European trip to the country
while at Borussia Dortmund in 2015, because of 'safety concerns'
relating to a conflict between Azerbaijan and his native Armenia.

Arsenal are due to meet Qarabag in Baku on 4 November. The 2018/19
Europa League final is also due to be staged in the city, which could
pose further problems for Arsenal should they qualify.

On Friday, Emery said he had not yet discussed the situation with
Mkhitaryan, but added that he wants to include the 29-year-old in his
squad for the match if possible. Emery has started Mkhitaryan in each
of his three Premier League matches in charge of the club so far.

"Not yet," he replied, when asked if he had met with Mkhitaryan. "But
I would like he stays with us. This problem, if we can together
arrange, I think it is better, but I have not yet spoken with him."

Arsenal later added in a statement: "Safety and security of all our
players and staff is always a top priority. We will be looking into
this situation, talk to the player and make a decision after that."

Uefa meanwhile pledged to support any visa application made on behalf
of the player.

"It is a standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to
associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visas for players
in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa
matches," a spokesperson told The Independent.

The Independent has contacted the Azerbaijan embassy for comment and
is awaiting a response.

There are currently no diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and
Armenia owing to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The region,
along with some neighbouring territory, has been under the control of
Armenian soldiers and local ethnic Armenian forces since a 1994
ceasefire ended a bloody six-year war. There have been occasional
outbreaks of violence since.

Arsenal have also been drawn alongside Sporting Lisbon and Ukrainian
side Vorskla Poltava, in a group that involves almost 10,000 miles of
travel. However Emery - who won the tournament three years in a row
while at Sevilla - has pledged to make the Europa League a priority.

"We want to go far in this competition," Emery said. "Each match is
different and each match involves a lot of travel. For some, the
travel is very long but it's like that.

"The adaptation for these three teams needs to be positive and we need
to face them with ambition and our interest to do well in the
competition."

The Arsenal manager also suggested he would be experimenting with his
line-up when Arsenal's squad return from next week's international
break.

"When you play two matches in a week, you have more time to prepare
for the matches, to prepare the players physically," he said.

"When you play three matches in a week, it's hard. There's less time
to prepare for the match and work physically, but we want it like
that. We want to play three matches in a week with the league and the
cups.