Arsenal and Tottenham's hopes of domestic silverware are gone, leaving European glory as their last chance this season.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are mathematically, still in the Premier League title race, but with Liverpool seemingly racing away, winning their first ever Champions League may be their best shot at a trophy. For Spurs, the Europa League is their only hope. With injuries and inconsistency disrupting their form, we're taking a look at their European hopes, and what's at stake during the remainder of the campaign. Arsenal and Tottenham's hopes of domestic silverware are gone, leaving European glory as their last chance this season.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are mathematically, still in the Premier League title race, but with Liverpool seemingly racing away, winning their first ever Champions League may be their best shot at a trophy. For Spurs, the Europa League is their only hope. With injuries and inconsistency disrupting their form, we're taking a look at their European hopes, and what's at stake during the remainder of the campaign. Arsenal and Tottenham's hopes of domestic silverware are gone, leaving European glory as their last chance this season.
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00:00Jack, let's look at Arsenal's Champions League draw now. Obviously, a few fantastic
00:08ties. I mean, PSV Eindhoven, in terms of the Round of 16 teams, is not the worst draw,
00:14but I'm sure PSV will look at this tie as a real chance to flex their stuff against
00:20a bit of a depleted, bit of a down Arsenal at the moment. I mean, it's so important
00:24that Arteta now turns things around and really puts all the eggs into this Champions League
00:29basket. How do you sort of see this tie going? And then there's obviously a huge prospect
00:33ahead if they are to progress? Yeah, I mean, typically, I think Arteta has got the best
00:40out of his players after defeat. You know, Arsenal tend to bounce back really well and
00:45there's no better way to do that than in the Champions League this season. I think the
00:49players will know that the league's away from them, but they've got a chance to try and
00:54rectify that by having a good Champions League campaign. You're absolutely right. PSV is
00:58probably a favourable draw, but it's not going to be an easy win by any means. They
01:03played really well, they've qualified to this stage and it's going to be a tricky test.
01:12They've also just signed ex-Arsenal striker Lucas Perez on a free transfer, so I feel
01:17like the headlines are writing themselves with that one, with a Lucas Perez winner to
01:21knock us out. And then even if we beat PSV, which hopefully we should do, I think that
01:27even given our lacklustre options up front, we should have enough to beat PSV, then it
01:34looks like it's either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid. And by that point, hopefully Arsenal
01:41might have Saka and Martinelli back, which would definitely be a boost. But I mean, you
01:47know, I can't see Atletico Madrid stopping Real Madrid and I can't see Arsenal stopping
01:51Real Madrid either. So that is going to be a very tricky one. And if we were to beat
01:55Real Madrid or Atletico, it then looks like we'd have Liverpool in the semi-final. So
02:00it's going to be a really tough run-in for them, but it's a really good opportunity to
02:05try and show something to the fans and to themselves that they are capable of competing
02:11at the top level, especially after how this Premier League season's gone.
02:17Well, I mean, the Europa League is absolutely massive, I suppose now. I think I said it
02:20previously that, you know, we just need to get safe in the league. I mean, that sounds
02:24a bit sort of extreme and a little bit dramatic, but, you know, let's get to 40 points. Let's
02:28make sure we're not under any pressure or relegation and we're not looking over our
02:32shoulders and let's put everything then into the Europa League. You know, if needs be,
02:36we could rest players in the Premier League because it's a massive opportunity. You know,
02:40the draw's really opened up for us as well. We're still waiting to find out the opponents,
02:45but it will be one of Galatasaray, AZ, Miquel Andorre, Real Sociedad. So, you know, there's
02:53a couple of tough teams in there, but there's a couple that you'd take as well in the last
02:5516 and, you know, all roads essentially lead to Bilbao. So, there's some good sides, but
03:02on Spurs' day with a fully fit XI, would I expect Spurs to win? Yes, I would, absolutely.
03:07And obviously the Holy Grail prize at the end of it is the Champions League. And, you
03:12know, we've bolstered the squad as well. You know, we've got Dan Sotel and Jed Spence
03:15in the Europa squad now. So, we've got better options and, you know, you've got to say Jed
03:21Spence has probably been one of the players of the season. I mean, he's been absolutely
03:24outstanding since he's been given a chance by Posta Coglu. You know, two or three managers
03:29overlooked him. He was a, you know, inverted comms club signing by Conte. He's hardly signed
03:35a new contract before he'd even kicked a ball for Spurs. And he's been absolutely brilliant.
03:39I mean, you know, you'd probably argue on current form he's one of the best full-backs
03:43in the league and he's actually playing at left-back instead of right-back. And I've
03:46heard a few murmurs of possible England call-ups for him this week. He's been, you know, really
03:50that impressive. So, you know, that will definitely help us having more options in the squad.
03:56We've just got to keep injury-free. And as I say, if we can get to that milestone of
03:5940 points in the league, you know, let's have a real go at it because, you know, as I say,
04:03it could still be a very, very successful season. You know, if we end up, despite everything
04:08and the turmoil and the off-pitch antics and the pressure on the manager and all the injuries,
04:14to come out with a trophy and win the Europa League will be absolutely outstanding. And,
04:17you know, every sports fan would take finishing 10th or 11th or even 12th, 13th in the league
04:21if it meant we won a trophy. So, yeah, fingers crossed. Obviously a long way to go, but we're
04:27in with a huge chance.