Arsenal Will Fight For Top Four- Mkhitaryan

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has told ESPN FC that Arsenal can secure Champions League qualification without having to rely on Europa League success.

Arsenal go into Thursday’s Europa League round of 32 second-leg against Ostersunds with a 3-0 lead from last week’s meeting in Sweden and a place in the round of 16 virtually assured.

With Arsene Wenger’s team sitting in sixth position in the Premier League, eight points adrift of the top four, winning the Europa League final in Lyon on May 16 would appear to be Arsenal’s most realistic route back into the Champions League.

But Mkhitaryan, who won the Europa League with Manchester United last season, insists that a top four finish is still possible.

“Of course it [Europa League] is very important, but I wouldn’t say we stop ourselves from saying we are going to compete in the top four,” Mkhitaryan said. “We are still in the competition because the English Premier League anything is possible.

“Maybe sometimes, teams can lose two, three times in a row and we win our games so anything is possible. We are trying to win every game in every competition and, of course, we will be glad if we can win the Europa League as well, but if we can be in the top four, it will be even better.”