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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jamie Kemble

Bukayo Saka's awkward Unai Emery moment as Arsenal ace 'agrees' with former boss about reunion

Arsenal and Unai Emery have the media in dreamland after each of them secured a spot in the Europa League semi-finals.

The Gunners romped past Slavia Prague on Thursday night with a 4-0 away win and a 5-1 aggregate victory thanks to second-leg goals from Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe and a brace from Alexandre Lacazette.

Meanwhile, Villarreal ensured they are the team waiting for Arsenal in the semi-final with a 3-1 aggregate win over Dinamo Zagreb, winning 2-1 on Thursday.

Arsenal fans are now getting very excited about taking on their old boss with Emery spending 18 months with the Gunners ahead of Mikel Arteta's arrival.

But while there is excitement over the fact the Gunners might have the chance to get one over on their old boss and vice versa, there is one narrative-busting problem.

It seems neither Emery or one of Arsenal's biggest stars in Bukayo Saka care too much about the fact they will get the chance to see old faces.

"Breaking the barrier of the semi-finals is the great challenge," Emery said after Villarreal cruised past Dinamo Zagreb. "The idea of reaching the Champions League through the Europa League is very important.

"When I signed here this was one more process. My past at Arsenal is less important."

And when Arsenal star Saka was asked about the prospect of taking on Emery and Villarreal, he completely brushed off the question by saying: "Yeah, yeah, we look forward to the next opponent."

That's hardly adding fuel to any fire between the two, but admittedly, there will be plenty of time for questions of a reunion with the two sides not going head-to-head in the first leg until April 29.

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