BACK PAGE: 1985
Emery says Gunners have had plenty of time to prepare
1970: Australian racing driver Jack Brabham enjoyed his 14th and last Grand Prix win, at South Africa’s Kyalami circuit. 1999: Ulsterman Eddie Irvine gained his first Formula One win when he took the chequered flag for Ferrari in Melbourne. In the wake wa of the foot-and-mouth c crisis, the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival was abandoned.
2008: Controversial sprint star Dwain Chambers (left) won a silver medal for Great Britain in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia.
2010: GB’s Davis Cup team hit a new low with defeat to Lithuania. Britain would now have to beat Turkey in a relegation play-off to avoid dropping to Europe/Africa Zone Group III – the competition’s lowest tier. TOTTENHAM’S epic 44-match unbeaten home run in Europe came to an end as Steve Perryman’s own goal gave Real Madrid a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane. It was also the first time Spurs had failed to score in a home tie. The UEFA Cup holders went out as the teams drew the return 0-0, with Real going on to win the competition. UNAI EMERY will not use fatigue as an excuse among the slings, arrows and Brittany spears of his return to France tonight.
Where a certain neighbour across north London lamented a lack of support from the Premier League to help his side prepare for key ties in Europe, Arsenal boss Emery insists the Gunners have enough fresh players to cope here in the Europa League.
This will not be a walk in the park for Emery, whose last home game in charge of Paris SaintGermain was a defeat by Rennes.
And at sold-out Roazhon Park, former Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa – blackballed by Emery at PSG – will be eager to find out whether Arsenal will follow Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday with crepe defending.
Where Rennes have had eight days to prepare, Emery last night refused to follow Tottenham head coach Mauricio lament about preparation time.
He said: “It’s not an excuse for us. We have the habit of playing a lot of matches week by week. We played Saturday, rested Sunday, worked Monday and tomorrow we will be OK for everyone to play.
“My opinion is to respect the Premier League. They decide the schedule for our matches and we prepare in the days we have free.
“Above all, the habit is to play a lot of matches but it’s not an excuse. If you are asking me whether I prefer to have more time, sometimes, to prepare, then maybe Pochettino’s insuf f icient Rennes will be the 10th different French team that Arsenal have faced in Europe – the Gunners have beaten the previous nine. Arsenal have never lost an away game against French opposition (W8 D5 L0).
Rennes are hosting an English I say yes. But for this match we don’t have an excuse because we have had enough time to prepare.
“We have the players to share the workload. We can rest some players and have others fresh to give the best performance.”
Emery backed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose last- gasp penalty miss at Wembley last Saturday denied the Gunners a famous north London derby win, to recover from his disappointment.
“It’s one moment,” said the Arsenal boss. “I was positive before and I am very confident in the player if he is going to take a penalty again.” Emery sidestepped side for only the second time in their history. They beat Aston Villa 2-1 in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup semi-final in 2001. This is the 16th successive time Arsenal have reached the last-16 of a major European competition, a run that began in 2003-04. L ive o n BT Sport 3 from 5.15pm a question about his strained relationship with Ben Arfa at PSG, resorting to compliments about his “quality and skills.”
But last month Ben Arfa launched a £ 7million lawsuit against PSG for loss of earnings, claiming he was systematically frozen out by Emery (below) for 15 months, and that the treatment amounted to “discrimination and harassment in the workplace”.
Rennes coach Julien Stephan backed the former France to channel any lingering resentment, saying: “Hatem is capable of managing all that in a very intelligent way.
“This is Rennes s against Arsenal, not Hatem m Ben
Arfa against Unai nai Emery.
“There are a lot t of champions on both teams and champions are always ready for these occasions, so I’m m sure he will put in a big performance.”