Gunners face battle to beat Thursday night blues

Arsenal supporters were warned to be careful what they wished for when they hounded Arsene Wenger out of the club a year ago. That is not to say the Frenchman would have marked 23 years in charge by winning or even reaching this European final, but it is clear that his replacement Unai Emery now faces an even tougher challenge to make Arsenal competitive again.

Failure to take advantage of their prolonged first half dominance in Baku ultimately betrayed a lack of quality and conviction at this level. Chelsea are serial trophy winners — failing to win one in only four of the last 15 years — while Arsenal have not triumphed in Europe since 1994 and were ultimately outclassed. Despite the margin of this defeat and an end of season collapse that cost Champions League qualification via the Premier League, it would be unfair to say Emery has taken Arsenal backwards single handedly.