UEL BAKU 2019: Europa League Whose Trophy Is It To Win?

London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal meet in an all-English Europa League final on Wednesday, 2,500 miles from home. There is speculation that, win or lose in Baku’s Olympic Stadium, it could be Blues boss Maurizio Sarri’s final game in charge. He refused to discuss reports linking him with Italian side Juventus on the eve of the final, saying: “I have a contract with Chelsea for two years. “So, first of all I will speak with Chelsea but this is not the moment.” Sarri has had a turbulent first campaign at Stamford Bridge, frequently questioning the mentality of his squad and having a public fall-out with Kepa Arrizabalaga during the Carabao Cup final. But, as he reflected on the past 11 months, he suggested his feelings for his players will play a part if he does have a decision to make about his future. “For me, at the beginning of the season it was really very difficult to understand my players, to understand the mentality,” Sarri explained. 

The Who Never A Won A Trophy against The Perenial Winner Of The UEFA Europa Winner

Sarri, 60, has never won a major honour as a manager, while his Arsenal counterpart Unai Emery has won this competition three times with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016.

His current club has had rather less success on the continent, however. While Chelsea won the Europa League in 2013, a year after their triumph in the Champions League, Arsenal have not clinched a European title since they won the now obsolete European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994. Emery insists ending that 25-year wait is his first objective in Azerbaijan, despite the game also being his side’s last chance of making next season’s Champions League after a two-year absence – with qualification likely to significantly increase their summer transfer funds.  “There are two targets here but the most important target for us is to win a title,” the Spaniard said on Tuesday. “The second target is to help us to achieve the Champions League. “Emery does not feel the game means less to Chelsea because the Blues are already in the Champions League after finishing third in the Premier League table.”Each title is very important for us, and for Chelsea too,” Emery added. “We want to enjoy this moment, for our fans and also for ourselves. Chelsea will have the same idea.”

Blues defender David Luiz agreed when he faced the media later on Tuesday, adding: “This competition is not about the Champions League. “It is about a big trophy – everybody wants to win this competition when they start out in it, and we want a repeat of 2013, with a win.”  

Match stats

Head-to-head

• Arsenal against Chelsea will be the second all-English UEFA Cup/Europa League final in history, after Tottenham against Wolves in the UEFA Cup final in 1972.
• This is the 198th meeting in all competitions between Arsenal and Chelsea but only the third in European competition – they met in the 2003-04 Champions League quarter-final, with the Blues progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
• Arsenal vs Chelsea will be the first fixture to played in the FA Cup final, League Cup final and a major European final.
• This will be both Arsenal and Chelsea’s sixth major European finals – only Man Utd (7) and Liverpool (14 – including 2019 Champions League) have reached more among English clubs.
• This final will be third time two teams from the same nation have faced in the Europa League final, after Porto v Braga in 2011 and Atletico Madrid v Athletic Club in 2012.
• Both Arsenal and Chelsea have won 11 Europa League games this season – only three teams have ever won more major European games in a single season (excluding qualifiers); Real Madrid in 2001-02 (12), Porto in 2010-11 (12) and Atletico Madrid in 2011-12 (13).
• Azerbaijan will be the 24th different country to host a major European final and the third consecutive year a country will host a major final for the first time – Wales for the 2016-17 Champions League final and Ukraine for the 2017-18 Champions League final.

Arsenal

• Arsenal have lost four of their five major European finals, with their only victory coming in the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup against Parma; they’ve lost each of their last three, losing in the 1995 Cup Winners’ Cup, 2000 UEFA Cup and 2006 Champions League finals.
• In all European competition, Arsenal have faced opponents from 27 different nations and beaten teams from 26 of those countries, with the only exception being against English clubs.
• Arsenal manager Unai Emery has won the Europa League more often than any other manager, winning it three times in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with Sevilla.
• Arsenal’s Unai Emery could become only the fourth manager to win the UEFA/Europa League with two different teams, after Giovanni Trapattoni (Juventus & Inter Milan), Jose Mourinho (Porto & Man Utd) and Rafael Benitez (Valencia & Chelsea).
• If Arsenal win this match, only Giovanni Trapattoni (5) will have won more major European finals than Unai Emery (4), while only three other managers would have won as many as four with a 100% record in each final – Nereo Rocco, Bob Paisley and Jose Mourinho.
• Arsenal’s last eight Europa League goals have been scored by either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (4) or Alexandre Lacazette (4).

Chelsea

• Chelsea have won four of their five major European finals (2x Cup Winners’ Cup/1x Champions League/1x Europa League). Among English teams, only Man Utd (5) and Liverpool (8) have won more major European finals.
• Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has scored 10 Europa League goals this season, the most by a Blues player in a single European season (excluding qualifiers) and the joint-most by a French player in major European competition in a season – Nestor Combin in the 1963-64 Cup Winners’ Cup and Just Fontaine in the 1958-59 European Cup also scored 10.
• Chelsea’s Maurizio Sarri is the first Italian to manage in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final since Alberto Malesani in 1999, who won the trophy with Parma that year.
• The two previous Italians to manage an English club in a major European final have managed Chelsea to victory – Gianluca Vialli in the 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup final and Roberto Di Matteo in the 2012 Champions League final.

Photo Credit: Getty