Our chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League will rest on a storming end to the Premier League campaign - or success in the Europa League.
We trailed fourth-placed Tottenham by 10 points, with our game in hand on Spurs scheduled for Thursday night against Manchester City.
The other route to Europe’s top table is via the Europa League, and our last-16 tie with AC Milan looms large in March.
Arsene Wenger was asked after Sunday’s Carabao Cup final defeat whether he would now prioritise the Europa League.
“We have to prioritise the next game first before we talk about the Europa League,” he replied.
“We will of course take the Europa League very seriously but we have as well to win big games because if you want to go far in the Europa league, you have to win big games as well.
“If you look at the opponents who are in the Europa League, there are big teams in there.”
"We’ll need a very different result against City to close the gap on the Premier League’s top four on Thursday, but the boss has no complaints about our players’ application at Wembley.
“When you lose a game like that everything is questioned - the players, the team, the personalties,” he said. “It is now [like that] of course every time that you don't win a game.
“But we played against a good side, you cannot say that we played against an average side. They dominate the Premier League and they have good players. It is difficult to come back [when you are behind against them].”
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