Stephan Lichtsteiner sends message to Unai Emery, makes Hector Bellerin claim

The Gunners’ Premier League rivals Liverpool secured a last-gasp win over Paris St Germain last night while Tottenham lost to Inter Milan in dramatic fashion.

Unai Emery’s side, meanwhile, are preparing to open their Europa League campaign at home to Ukrainian minnows Vorskla Poltava tomorrow.

It is the second successive year that Arsenal have spent in Europe's second-tier club competition, reaching the semi-final stage under Arsene Wenger last season.

Asked if Tuesday's action had whetted his appetite, Lichtsteiner said: "I am hungry to get back to the Champions League.

"But it is a long way and we have two chances - the Europa League and the Premier League. We want to try as I am sure we want to play Champions League next year.
"To come back to the glamour games, you need to win the other games first.
“Now we’re in the situation where we need to win the Europa League, so we’re going to try to win the Europa League. Then, next year I hope, we can talk about the Champions League.”

Lichtsteiner is yet to make his full Arsenal debut having joined on a free transfer from Juventus in the summer.
But the Swiss full-back is expected to come into the side for his first start as Emery makes changes for the Vorskla clash.

Hector Bellerin has been preferred by Emery but Lichtsteiner insists the team is more important than any personal battles.

He said: “It’s not Hector v Stephan, it's Hector and me for Arsenal.
“We have to work together to improve each other, to get better each day, to make the team win and Arsenal as a club win.”

The 34-year-old was a serial winner with Juve, claiming Serie A glory on seven occasions, and he insists playing for the Italian giants showed him that all games have to be taken seriously.

"One thing I learned with Juventus is to have respect for each competition," he added.

"In the last four or five years with Juventus, we tried to play for all the titles, for all the trophies. While the Italian Cup wasn't that important beforehand, we started to play for it with the best team possible.

"I think in football you have to respect all the trophies. Of course the Champions League is a more glamorous title, but the Europa League is a really good chance for the team, for the club and all the players to win this nice trophy.

"I think for that we have to respect all teams in all competitions to give all games 100 per cent."
Emery, who won the Europa League three years in a row while at Sevilla, is likely to make a number of changes for his first game in charge of Arsenal in the competition.

As well as Lichtsteiner, fellow summer arrival Lucas Torreira will be hopeful of a first start, with new goalkeeper Bernd Leno also in contention.