Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta has urged his players to earn the much-needed point required as they face PSV Eindhoven tonight in a Europa Group A fixture to be played at Philips Stadium.
The gunners who have already qualified to the knockout stage of the competition after winning all four matches will just need a point to seal a first-place finish in Europa League Group A with a game to spare.
However, Arsenal have failed to win on their last two visits to PSV Eindhoven’s home ground losing 1-0 in the last 16 of the 2006-2007 Champions League after playing out a 1-1 draw in 2004-2005.
“Last week we made the first step which was to qualify for the next round. We need to win tonight because we want to finish first.” said the Spaniard.
Arteta also thinks the competition in the Europa League is getting tougher.
“This competition is getting harder and harder, it looks like the next round is going to be extremely competitive. That’s why finishing first in the group and avoiding another two games is such an important thing for us.” Said Arteta.
Barcelona, Ajax, Juventus and Atletico Madrid are some of the clubs that have dropped to the Europa League after being eliminated from the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s PSV side trail Arsenal by five points and only a victory will give them a chance of avoiding a play-off tie against one of the teams dropping down from the Champions League.
Either a win or draw for Arsenal they will top Group A with a game to spare.
