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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

Arsenal and Chelsea to meet in all-London Europa League final

This will be the first all-English final since Tottenham faced Wolves in the 1972 UEFA Cup (Picture: Getty Images)

Arsenal and Chelsea will meet in a London derby in the Europa League final in Baku on May 29.

The Gunners booked their place in the showpiece with a 7-3 aggregate semi-final victory over Spanish side Valencia, thanks in large part to a second-leg hat-trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Chelsea's progression was far less convincing, as they drew both legs of their semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1, before triumphing on penalties, with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga saving two spot-kicks.

It means that both major European club competition finals will be all-English affairs, with Liverpool and Tottenham set to face each other in the Champions League final on 1 June, after producing remarkable comebacks to see off Barcelona and Ajax respectively. It is the first time in history that one nation has provided all four finalists.

The two sides have met twice in the league this season, with Chelsea winning 3-2 at Stamford Bridge in August and Arsenal triumphing 2-0 at the Emirates in January.

(Getty Images)

Arsenal have the added motivation of knowing victory in the Azerbaijani capital would secure Champions League qualification, with their hopes of doing so through the Premier League now all but over.

Chelsea, by contrast, are already guaranteed a top-four league finish.

Arsenal boss Unai Emery is looking for his fourth Europa League title, having won the trophy three times in a row between 2014 and 2016 with Sevilla.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri, meanwhile, is searching for the first trophy of his career, having lost this season’s EFL Cup final in a penalty shoot-out to Manchester City.

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