Lacazette admits Arsenal were inspired by arch-rivals Spurs as they downed Valencia to reach Europa League final
French forward scored his 19th goal of the season as the Gunners thumped the La Liga side 4-2 in the second leg
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE confesses that Arsenal took their European inspiration from Spurs and Liverpool after making it a full English in Valencia.
The £54million Frenchman teamed up with strike pal Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to fire the Gunners to a famous 4-2 victory in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final in the Mestalla on Thursday.
And he admitted that seeing Liverpool and then bitter rivals Spurs making it to the Champions League final stirred Arsenal to match their heroics.
He said: “We watched the semi-finals on Tuesday and Wednesday and we saw that they were really, really happy to get to their final.
“The English teams played very well in the Champions League and they deserved their qualification. And we wanted to do the same.
“The fact that there are four English sides in this year’s European finals means that there is a great level of football in the Premier League.
“For quite a long time with the exception of Liverpool there were not a lot of English clubs in the finals or even the semi-finals of Europe.
“But we want to show Europe that there is not only Liverpool. There is also Arsenal.
“It is really important for this club to get back into the Champions League and now we have another chance to do that after a bad month in the Premier League.
“But this is not just about getting into the Champions League. This club and these players need to win trophies and now we have a big opportunity to do that against Chelsea this month.”
'NO PERSONAL COMPETITION'
Lacazette scored his 19th goal of the season on Thursday night while Aubameyang’s first Arsenal hat-trick took his tally to 29.
“I’ve been playing with Auba now for a year and a half and our understanding is improving all the time,” Lacazette says.
“We talk together all the time, and not only about football, so when you like someone and have a good relationship then of course it makes it easier on the pitch.
“Now we have 48 goals between us this season but there is no personal competition. It’s OK if he scores ten more than me.”
Lacazette, 27, was also full of praise for boss Unai Emery, the most successful boss in Europa League history who is looking to lift the trophy for a record fourth time in Baku this month.
'THE NEXT STEP'
He says: “The club brought him in last year because they saw him as the coach to help team to the next step.
“And he has done that because we are going to the final in his first season in charge.
“We have been very consistent in the Europa League and on Thursday we managed to make the match almost perfect despite conceding two goals.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult evening because of the intense atmosphere in the stadium.
“We knew that Valencia were going to push us and put us under a lot of pressure and unfortunately we conceded an early goal.
“But we showed a lot of character and proved that even at 1-0 down we can still control the game.
“We managed to equalise quickly to calm things down and after that we took control.
“Now we have to go on from here and win the final.”
Aubameyang knows that after 25 years without a European trophy, this month’s showdown with Chelsea is an opportunity which Arsenal have to grasp.
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The club’s £60million record signing says: “Getting to this final is a significant step forward for Arsenal.
“We have showed how tough we are throughout this competition and we have given everything to give ourselves the chance to qualify for the Champions League.
“And now that we have four English teams in the finals, I think we can say that this really is the best league in the world.”