Alexandre Lacazette has praised Unai Emery for taking Arsenal to the “next step” after the Gunners hammered Valencia 7-3 on aggregate to reach the final of this season’s Europa League.
A hat-trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a goal from Lacazette himself saw Arsenal run out comfortable 4-2 winners at the Mestalla on Thursday evening, booking a place in this month’s Baku final against London rivals Chelsea.
It is the first European final Arsenal have reached since 2006, when they lost the Champions League to Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona, with Emery attempting to become the first manager to win the tournament four times.
The Spaniard was brought to the club with the remit of securing a return to the Champions League and he is now just one match away from achieving this aim — something Lacazette feels shows exactly how the club have made steps in the right direction since his arrival.
“That's why the club saw him as the coach to help the team go to the next step, and he did, because we go to the final in his first season” Lacazette said of Emery and his formidable record in the Europa League.
“I hope it is going to be a great final for us and we will prepare for it. It is really important. The Champions League is a big competition.
“Last season, we failed at the semi-finals and this season we wanted to be better.”
“We knew in the Premier League we played bad in the last month so we know it was a great opportunity to go to the Champions League but as well it is about trophies. The club needs to win a trophy, the players as well.
It has been a historic week for English football, with the finals of both the Champions and Europa League to be contested by teams from the same nation for the first time in history, and Lacazette added that the exploits of Liverpool and Tottenham this week had helped to spur Arsenal on.
“That means there is a great level in England,” Lacazette said of the success of the Premier League teams in Europe this week. “A long time before Liverpool, there were not a lot of clubs in the semi-finals and finals but we want to show there is not only Liverpool, there is also Arsenal.
“We saw [Liverpool and Tottenham] were really, really happy. The English teams played really well on Tuesday and Wednesday and they deserve the qualification. We wanted to do the same.”
