Arsenal will play in the Europa League this season after failing to qualify for the Champions League and if any manager knows the Europa League well then it is Unai Emery.
Emery has tasted success in the second tier of European football a fair number of times and the Gunners fans will be hoping that the Spaniard can replicate that same magic this season.
Arsenal have been drawn with Sporting Lisbon, Qarabag and Ukrainian side Vorskla in the Europa League and as things stand January signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be able to play in a couple of the games.
But why?
Well for starters Mkhitaryan will miss the group stage encounter against Qarabag away from home and if Arsenal have a good run and reach the final then the Armenian will miss that game too.
According to Vivaro News, Armenian players are currently banned from entering Azerbaijan due to tensions between the two countries.
This means that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will surely miss the away clash against Qarabag and maybe the final since it will be played at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan.
According to @VivaroNewsINT, Henrikh Mkhitaryan won't be able to play against Qarabag because Azerbaijan have banned Armenians from entering the country. https://t.co/Sw85gVx4Q9
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) August 31, 2018
This though should not be a huge issue for Unai Emery given that he has a number of players to cover for Henrikh Mkhitaryan during the group stages. And for the Europa League final – well that’s a long shot right now.
Read: Here’s the real reason why Cristiano Ronaldo chose not attend the UEFA awards just like Modric and Salah.
Read: The 2018/19 Europa League draw.
