Valencia: Kevin Gameiro has knocked Arsenal out of one Europa League semi-final and now he wants to do it again.
Gameiro helped Atletico Madrid end Arsene Wenger’s hopes of a glorious finale last season, a 2-1 aggregate win sending them through to the final, where they would sail past Marseille.
Twelve months on, it is Unai Emery in charge of Arsenal and Gameiro leading the line for Valencia who, like their opponents, may well need to win the Europa League to play in the Champions League next term.
“It’s going to be a different game to last year, they have a new coach and he has brought his own style to the Arsenal team,” Gameiro said. “We will have to be aware of all their strengths and weaknesses because they play a fast game, they control the ball and have players who can break quickly. It will need us to give everything to win.”
If Gameiro knows Arsenal, he knows Emery too, having played under the Spaniard at Sevilla, where together they won the Europa League three times on the bounce in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“We haven’t kept in touch but I saw Unai again when Atletico played a friendly against Arsenal in Singapore and it will nice to see him again,” Gameiro said. “He is a great motivator. In these big games and big moments, he knows how to get the best out of his players. He has won this competition three times, he knows how it works. But we both want to be in this final.”
This season, Gameiro has scored six goals since the turn of the year after managing only two before it, a trajectory similar to his team, who have recovered well from a painfully slow start.
AFP