Valencia vs Arsenal: Aubameyang and Lacazette send Arsenal to the Europa League final
Arsenal won away from home courtesy of a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hat-trick
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal have won a place in the final of the Europa League after beating Valencia 4-2 in the second leg of their semi-final at the Mestalla.
Unai Emery’s men took a 3-1 advantage to Spain after their win against the La Liga side last week at the Emirates, but Valencia's early strike through Kevin Gameiro gave the hosts hope of a comeback.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised after 17 minutes to restore Arsenal's two-goal aggregate advantage before Alexandre Lacazette scored their fifth of the tie, but Gameiro scored his second to make it 5-3 to Arsenal on aggregate before Aubameyang's hat-trick goal sealed it.
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Welcome along to our live coverage of tonight's Europa League games, where Arsenal and Chelsea look to lock their places in the final in Baku. Arsenal lead 3-1 heading to Valencia, while Chelsea take a 1-1 draw to Stamford Bridge against Frankfurt. Callum will be here shortly with all the build-up and team news, but in the meantime here's the latest from our man in Spain tonight, Luke Brown:
After two incredible nights of Champions League football, attention turns towards the Europa League this evening. Arsenal, who take a 3-1 lead to the Mestalla, will be hopeful of replicating their north London rivals Tottenham in reaching a European final. Unai Emery returns to his former club with his side enduring a dismal run of form domestically: the Gunners have taken just one point from their last four in the Premier League and continue to look vulnerable away from home.
Arsenal, though, will look to their 1-0 victory at Napoli last month as a marker for tonight's game. That was a disciplined, controlled performance, and they will need to replicate that against Valencia.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are in control of their semi-final having returned from Germany with a 1-1 draw last week. Maurizio Sarri's side are strong favourites to progress to the final in Baku, particularly after Frankfurt's heavy 6-1 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.
Changes
Arsenal make three changes from the team that drew with Brighton on Sunday. Petr Cech, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Laurent Koscielny replace Stephan Lichtsteiner, Shkodran Mustafi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
For Valencia, who trashed Huesca 6-2 last weekend, former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin is back after suspension, while Kevin Gameiro and Daniel Wass also return to the starting XI.
Changes
Maurizio Sarri makes four changes, bringing Olivier Giroud, Willian, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Emerson Palmeri into his side in place of Gonzalo Higuain, Pedro and Marcos Alonso.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, bring back Ante Rebic, who missed the first leg through suspension. Chelsea will need to be alert in defence to deal with the threat of Rebic and compatriot Luka Jovic, the Bundesliga side's top scorer this season with 26 goals.
Chelsea are already familiar with Jovic after last week's first leg. His finish at the Commerzbank-Arena was an example of what he can do given time and space:
Arsenal, first and foremost, will need to handle the occasion tonight. Valencia's fans are up for this.
Here's what Unai Emery has had to say in the buildup to tonight's semi-final:
Our idea is to play the match to win. And if you want to win, you need to score. [Valencia] are a very aggressive team and well structured defensively — but they need to score. So our idea is to do both and take our chances.
I first competed for this title here at Valencia when it was still the Uefa cup and was a lesser title than I think it is now. It has grown. It’s an important title for all those teams that are not in the Champions league – and for some who drop into it as a second chance, like Valencia this season.
It’s a title they all want to win. Giving teams a Champions League place through the Europa league is a fair reward. I have seen that shift. It’s an attractive title and it’s getting more attractive: now we have seen Manchester United, Atlético and Sevilla win.
The demands are high and everyone wants it, as a title, not just a way in [to the Champions League]. At any club like Arsenal or Valencia, titles have to be objectives [in themselves].
Arsenal only have two European titles in their history: the old Fairs cup and the cup winners cup, neither of which now exist, so I have a lot of ambition to win a title.”
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