Unai Emery has refused to rise to Hatem Ben Arfa's taunts ahead of tonight’s Europa League last-16 clash, saying he has nothing but respect for the Rennes midfielder.
In the wake of Rennes’ 3-1 victory over Arsenal in the first leg, the Frenchman said he had found himself laughing at an “agitated” Emery during the fixture.
“My motivation was to play a solid match, to win and get ourselves into a good position to go through,” said Ben Arfa.
“That’s what was in my head. But I did see the same Emery, as agitated as ever. I looked over at him a few times and that made me laugh a little. He hasn’t changed.”
Arsenal will be looking to overturn the two-goal deficit in this evening’s second-leg, last-16 tie when they welcome the Ligue 1 outfit to the Emirates.
And ahead of the match, Emery casually dismissed Ben Arfa’s teasing words, insisting instead that his focus was on the game.
“He’s a very good player and we respect him a lot,” said Emery.
“My focus is on preparing for the match against Rennes and on each player with his quality. We respect them and him a lot.”
