Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger appeared to take a sly dig on Manchester United as he hinted that they do not deserve their Champion League spot.
The Red Devils qualified for the elite competition by virtue of lifting the Europa League crown last term while they only finished sixth in the Premier League table.
The Gunners have been regulars in the Champions League for the past 19 years, but they will have a different competition of football to play for this season after having finished fifth in the table last season. Prior to Arsenal’s Community Shield game against Chelsea, Wenger was asked whether he would give some priority to the Europa League for which he replied: “I was always against it. Because apart from Man United, who did win the Europa League? All the years before it was always a team who was kicked out of the Champions League by having been kicked out of it before. You cannot go into the season and think that [you will get into the Champions League by winning the Europa League]. I always was not in favour of that.”
Meanwhile, clubs like Tottenham Hotspur have often rested some of their senior players whilst playing in Europe’s second competitions, and Wenger insists that he could use a similar ploy dependent on the group they are offered.The Gunners have been eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League in the past seven seasons and they do not have that to worry about this season with the Europa League likely to present them with a different challenge of coping with teams with a lower reputation.Wenger has had his war of words with Jose Mourinho over the past decade, and the Frenchman has started targeting his own nemesis ahead of the new Premier League season.
