Europa League final: Arsenal teammates want ‘to win the trophy for Henrikh Mkhitaryan’
Mkhitaryan made the decision not to travel due to safety reasons, because of the longstanding political tensions between his native Armenia and Azerbaijan
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal players Granit Xhaka and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have said that they want ‘to win the Europa League for Henrikh Mkhitaryan’, after the Armenia international decided against travelling to Baku for Wednesday night's final against Chelsea.
Mkhitaryan made the decision not to travel due to safety reasons, because of the longstanding political tensions between his native Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Despite receiving assurances about his security from the Azerbaijani government, Mkhitaryan decided he wanted to remain in London, with Unai Emery now without a player who has featured heavily in Arsenal’s run to the final.
On Monday Sokratis tweeted a picture of himself playing alongside Mkhitaryan with the caption ‘missing you bro’, and the Greece international commented in Baku that Arsenal are determined to win the final for their absent playmaker,
“We've had five or six years together, I know him very well, we are good friends,” said Sokratis.
“So I just wrote what I feel. But we have also to play for him and for the players who are injured, and tomorrow if we win this game, it's also for them.”
Xhaka added: “Of course we are disappointed he's not here but I think we spoke a lot about Mkhitaryan, and a lot of political things, and it's time to speak about football.
“He's very important for us, and we want to give him a trophy tomorrow. We've been twice in a row in the Europa League, and a club like Arsenal has to be in the Champions League.
“It's an amazing and important game for us, because we want to give the club and the fans the Champions League back.”
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who will learn on Wednesday whether he has won his battle with Petr Cech to start in goal against Chelsea, commented earlier in the week that Mkhitaryan’s absence from the final was a “scandal”.
“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 said.
“I'm just sorry for him.”
The Gunners earlier learned that Uefa would not permit their players warming up in Mkhitaryan branded shirts, in a proposed show of support for the midfielder.
Any kit worn by teams immediately before, during or after the game is subject to approval by European football’s governing body, with Uefa confirming that such shirts would be prohibited by their rules preventing teams from making political statements.
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