As an Arsenal fan, it’s OK if Chelsea and Man Utd win in Europe
Now, before you go mad at me let me make one thing very clear, I want Arsenal to win the Europa League, I really do, right down to my core, however, under the right circumstances I would be ok if Chelsea lift the Europa League and Manchester United wins the Champions League and let me explain why.
If United do win the Champions league it means that Tottenham has not, good, part one of the job done.
Second, if Chelsea wins the Europa League it means they are automatically in next seasons Champions League, good, part two of the job done.
Now, here is the kicker, if we finish third and Tottenham finish fourth then guess what, Tottenham is OUT of next seasons Champions League.
The reason is simple, England is allowed a maximum of five Champions League places, two would go to Man Utd and Chelsea for winning the European tournaments and the other three go to the teams that finish first, second and third, which would probably be Man City, Liverpool and us.
Of course, there are inherent risks in all of this if Chelsea wins the Europa league and Man Utd win the Champions League then we would be in serious trouble in fourth, and you cannot ignore that United have drawn Barcelona in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite competition but that is not the point I am making.
The point I am making is that if we fail to win the Europa League and manage to finish third how satisfying would it be to know that the Spuds miss out even if they finish fourth.
Like I said, I am desperate for us to win the Europa League, we have to take care of our own business first, but I would be lying if I did not say I would be OK with a scenario that sees us qualify and not the mouthy sods down the road, they have been right up themselves for a couple of years now and it is time they got put back in their box where they belong.
Martin