Football

Arsenal star Bernd Leno SLAMS Uefa over Chelsea Europa League final with 'scandal' blast


The Gunners face Chelsea in Baku tomorrow night but will be without Armenian attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan who is not travelling because of fears over his safety.

Leno says it is a ‘scandal’ that his team-mate cannot play as he questioned the decision to hold the competition’s showpiece in a country where it is not possible for all the players to be involved.

Fans have also been affected and are facing an almighty struggle to get to the ground which is approximately 2,500 miles from London.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea are expected to sell around half of their respective allocations of 6,000 tickets and those that do travel face a grueling journey that involves multiple modes of transport.

Chelsea even refused to support Baku local authorities’ plans to help the club’s fans get to the game.

And Leno did not hold back when asked to give his thoughts after it was revealed the squad were planning to wear shirts with Mkhitaryan’s name in a show of support.

That move was later forbidden by Uefa and Leno has now spoken out in a public show of unity with his team-mate.

“It’s a scandal that he cannot play because of that, he works hard all season and cannot come to such a final for political reasons,” the German told Kicker.

“I’m just sorry for him [Mkhitaryan].”

There were calls for Arsenal and Chelsea to boycott the final but Leno says the club are desperate to win the trophy.

“The club wants the title, they want to go to the Champions League, and if Arsenal and Chelsea refuse, they would probably be excluded from UEFA. That’s not so easy,” he added.

Leno has been No1 for almost all of the season but is not expected to start the final with Petr Cech set to be given the nod in what will be his last game before retiring.

However, he insists he wants to be involved and says he is ready to play if called upon.

“I have great respect for Petr, and we get along very well,” he said.

“He deserves all credit, and I treat him well, but it’s clear that I’m an athlete, I want to always play, especially in a final.

“To win the Europa League would be the first big title for me. We all want to hear the [Champions League] anthem again.

“The Thursday-Sunday rhythm is also not so good because you always suffer in the league. If we lose the final, our season, which was actually good, would be disappointing.”



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