A hectic week for Arsenal continues on Thursday night as they visit Rennes' Roazhon Park for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.
The Gunners might usually be tempted to take such a fixture lightly given that it comes either side of a north London derby and a potentially pivotal showdown against Manchester United, yet they will be acutely aware that winning this competition offers an alternative route to Champions League qualification.
Unai Emery insists that a relentless fixture list will not be used as an excuse by Arsenal, who currently sit fifth and one point adrift of United in the race for a top-four Premier League finish after a late botched penalty by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw them held to a draw by Spurs at Wembley.
Emery's side went undefeated en route to topping Europa League Group E, but lost their last-32 first-leg meeting with BATE Borisov in Belarus before easily overturning a 1-0 deficit on home soil to progress 4-0 on aggregate.
Some of the talk this week regarding a proposed lack of assistance for English sides before European ties was sparked by the LFP granting Rennes' request to postpone last Saturday's Ligue 1 trip to Nimes Olympique in order to allow them to prepare for Arsenal in the 'best possible way'.
Les Rouges et Noirs - whose team features the likes of former Newcastle and Hull attacker Hatem Ben Arfa and one-time Watford loanee M'Baye Niang - are middle of the pack in the French top-flight, having won 10 of their 26 matches so far this season.
On the continent, they finished as runners up to Chelsea's next opponents Dynamo Kiev in Group K before claiming the impressive scalp of Real Betis in the last round.
Can Arsenal secure a healthy lead to take back to London? Here is how you can follow the action...
TV channel and live stream online coverage
Rennes vs Arsenal will be televised live on BT Sport 3, with coverage starting from 5.15pm GMT.
BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match online via the video player and the BT Sport app.
Click here for more information.
Standard Sport will also have coverage from our Rennes vs Arsenal LIVE blog.
