Arsenal star: Premier League top six all deserve to be in Champions League

Arsenal star Granit Xhaka has claimed that all of the teams that finished in the top six of the Premier League are strong enough to appear in the Champions League next season.

“Four teams in the final shows everyone what a league the Premier League is and we hope we are ready for the final,” the Swiss midfielder said, as quoted by Euro Sport.

“You should have to go for the first six from the Premier League into the Champions League, so strong is the league. It is only four teams, four teams in the final now and so we can be proud.”

English clubs have dominated European football this season. The Champions League final will be played between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, while the Europa League final will be contested by Arsenal and Chelsea.

The Gunners finished in fifth place in the Premier League this term, but could potentially qualify for next season’s Champions League should they manage to defeat Chelsea in the Europa League final. It would be quite the achievement for the club, given that they failed to qualify for the Champions League the previous two seasons under Arsene Wenger.

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If Arsenal manage to win the Europa League, it would be a good way to end Unai Emery’s first season as manager of the club. It would also be a good send-off to goalkeeper Petr Cech, who is due to retire at the end of this season. Emery’s side can be confident going into the Baku showpiece, especially as the Spaniard has already won the competition three times while manager of La Liga side Sevilla.

During Emery’s debut season, Arsenal have played some positive football. However, they have failed to find the type of consistency that can win them trophies – at least on a domestic level.