Arsenal vs Rennes: Unai Emery can use Europa League to spark Gunners revival

The Spaniard won the trophy three times with Sevilla and could reinstill a now faded killer instinct with success in the competition

Do Arsenal need to win the Europa League? It’s a question of semantics, really. On the one hand, the walls will hardly cave in if Unai Emery’s side crash out to, say, Valencia in the quarter-finals. The whole point of the modern football club is to ensure that regardless of results on the pitch, the edifice endures.

The prize money of £7.4 million would pay for around six months of Mesut Ozil shuffling around looking tired. Champions League qualification would be nice, and given that the Europa League winners go straight into pot one, they would at least have a decent shot of not embarrassing themselves once they got there. But we’re not talking life or death here.

Thursday night’s win over BATE Borisov in front of a sighing Emirates Stadium earned them passage to Friday’s draw. Friday’s draw threw them into the path of Rennes, a good side on an upward curve after a difficult start to the season. The likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Mbaye Niang, Clement Grenier and Ismaila Sarr – who was linked with Arsenal in January – lie in wait.

They have a young, unscarred coach in Julien Stephan, who at the age of 38 is barely older than Petr Cech. But it could certainly have been worse for Arsenal, who will begin their two-legged tie as warm favourites.

And once you’re in the last eight, of course, it’s anybody’s. Unlike last season, when Atletico Madrid won without seemingly getting out of third gear, there is no outstanding contender this time. Sevilla look a fraction of the side they were in the autumn. Chelsea, Napoli and Inter Milan round out the favourites. Benfica often seem to have a habit of hanging in there. But for a confident, star-laden squad with a clear strategy and soaring ambition, there should be little in the draw to scare them.

The problem, of course, is that Arsenal are some way off that point. Indeed, it’s a measure of just how much of a battering their ego has taken over the last few months – perhaps even the last few years – that a competition they previously sneered at now feels daunting and dangerous. “We need to feel stronger in this competition,” Emery said after Thursday’s game, refusing to talk up Arsenal’s chances of triumph. “We need to enjoy this competition a lot, create a big atmosphere with our supporters. This feeling can give us more possibilities.”

This is the problem with Arsenal’s current malaise: at the moment, every game looks like a pitfall. Every new challenge is another potential for failure. The numbness that seems to have enveloped a large segment of the club’s fanbase has translated into a vague indifference. When you’ve been raised on Paris and the Bernabeu, it’s hard to get yourself up for the Roazhon Park in front of a crowd of 29,000.

Arsenal cruised past BATE (Arsenal FC via Getty) (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Still, for a club with designs on the top table, this is certainly an avenue worth persevering with. Unlike the vaguely melancholy FA Cup wins of the late Wenger era, winning the Europa League would represent a genuine triumph by Emery’s side, re-establishing them not just as a Champions League team but as one capable of winning the biggest games on the biggest stages. It would also prove, in the event Tottenham again finish trophyless this season, that even a benighted Arsenal still possess a keener killer instinct than their north London rivals.

The noises coming from the dressing room certainly sound bullish. “For me, we have to go until the end,” said Sokratis. “Our coach won this trophy a lot of times, and that is good for us. When you win something three times, it is something special. It will be very important for us to go until the final.”

The last Arsenal side to win the UEFA Cup was in 1970. The following season, they clinched the double. Nobody’s suggesting that as a serious possibility, of course. Winning the Europa League won’t fix all the problems at the club, and it won’t turn them into world-beaters at a stroke.

Arsenal didn’t become a bad team overnight, and they won’t become a great one overnight either. But these things are always a journey. And as with any journey, it’s the next step that’s always the most important.