Unai Emery says he is ‘proud’ of his players after Arsenal reached the Europa League quarter-finals with a 4-3 aggregate win over Rennes.
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg in France, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang’s double either side of an Ainsley Maitland-Niles header saw Arsenal triumph 3-0 at The Emirates and advance to the last eight.
The win followed Sunday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United, which lifted the Gunners back into the Premier League‘s top four as they seek a return to the Champions League next season, with Unai Emery admitting that it has been a tough week.
“We can be proud of our supporters and players today because it has been a very difficult week. We played Manchester United on Sunday and today against Rennes after we were away in the first leg,” Emery said in his post-match press conference.
“I think today we played very consistently over 90 minutes, being competitive without the ball and very serious defensively. I missed more control with the ball, more possession but they used a lot of players in attacking third and give us a lot of positivity to attack the space against them and run more in the transition.
“It is not all like we wanted with the control, but I think as a competitive match, we did very well.
“It has given us a big confidence on Sunday against Manchester United and today, the same I think with this performance and victory. This comeback was very difficult but I think our reaction is very good.
“Playing under pressure is good. Playing under pressure and growing up under pressure, each player, as a team, they feel difficult moments to give us our best performance. For us, today and Sunday, we are aware of playing competitively and I think it is good confidence for us to feel that.”
Arsenal discovered that they will face Napoli in the quarter finals of the Europa League this morning.
