The Moment Henrikh Mkhitaryan Told Teammates He’ll Miss The Europa League Final

By The Editor
on 22nd May 2019

Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not make the trip to Baku due to safety concerns…

Arsenal playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not make the trip to Baku for the Europa League final due to safety concerns given the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The 30-year-old was left at home for a group stage game against Qarabag, and it was noted then that should we make it to the final, an awkward predicament would arise.

UEFA failed to take action and Baku remains the destination for the final, despite the fact that a senior player cannot travel there safely due to political reasons.

Also, there will be a shortage of fans travelling from London from both sets of fans due to a poor set of allocations and travel restrictions.

Both Chelsea and Arsenal were given 6,000 tickets each, which is a horrendous gesture given that the stadium holds over 60,000.

The video above shows the moment Mkhitaryan broke the news to his teammates that he will not be making the trip with them, which followed a round of applause led by head coach Unai Emery.

Mkhitaryan came on as a substitute for our away legs against Napoli and Valencia with Emery going for Ozil in the No.10 role in the new-found 3-4-1-2 system.

His fresh legs made the game safe in Spain and his absence will be slightly softened by UEFA’s new rule of being able to name 12 substitutes instead of seven.

It means Danny Welbeck is likely to travel with the squad, while youngsters Bukayo Saka and Xavier Amaechi were held by from international duty and remain in contention.