Wenger’s last chance saloon

– Arsenal have little time to digest Arsene Wenger’s long-awaited decision to end his 22-year reign as a Europa League semifinal with Atletico Madrid offers the outgoing manager a chance to salvage some of his lost credit with the club’s fans.

Wenger (right) admitted he stepped aside to unite a fanbase fed up with years of mediocre results having been spoiled by success in the first decade of the Frenchman’s reign.

Fourteen years on from their last Premier League title, for so long Wenger could defend his record by consistent qualification for the Champions League.

However, a 19-year run in Europe’s premier club competition came to an end this season and Arsenal’s only chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League is by winning the Europa League.

To do so, though, Wenger will need to achieve something that he couldn’t even manage in his peak years in charge – win a European trophy.

His two final losses in the 2000 Uefa Cup to Galatasaray and against Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League, allied to a Cup Winners’ Cup final defeat by Werder Bremen when manager of Monaco in 1992, handed him the ignominy of being the only manager ever to reach the finals of all three European club competitions and lose every one.

The hosts are likely to need to feed off some positive energy from the stands to build a lead to take to Madrid in a week’s time against European specialists Atletico. – AFP