Arsène Wenger has said a fourth-placed finish “is not Champions League”, as he outlined the importance he has attached to securing automatic qualification to next season’s competition.
Arsenal moved up to third on Thursday night with their 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion and Wenger is determined to stay there, as fourth would necessitate having to get through a two-leg play-off to reach the Champions League group phase.
It will not deliver even that if Manchester City win the Champions League and Liverpool the Europa League – and both finish outside the Premier League’s top four. Then fourth place would be good enough only for the Europa League.
Wenger noted how the 24-team European Championship does not finish until 10 July and he would worry about the impact that a Champions League play-off early next season would stand to have on his players, many of whom are European internationals.
“Top four is not Champions League,” Wenger said. “Top three, yes. That’s why it is important [to finish third]. We want to play against the top teams and we want to be in the Champions League. When you have a big summer tournament like the Euros, it is now like a World Cup because it starts on 10 June and finishes on 10 July. The European Championship is still going on when the Champions League qualifiers start.
“You can play teams in the qualifiers who are in the middle of their championship because they have started already in June. But for us we don’t know where we finish. We are not guaranteed top four and we have to fight for that. Man United is behind us and they will fight for it as well. We have difficult games and so do they.”
Wenger, who has never finished outside the top four in England, takes his team to relegation-threatened Sunderland on Sunday. “It will be a battle,” he said. “Sunderland have found a stability and Sam Allardyce has big experience. Overall Allardyce has found a good balance.”
Wenger expressed his surprise that Mesut Özil had been overlooked for the PFA’s team of the season, despite the midfielder having been nominated by his peers for the player of the season award; there appears to be a contradiction in there somewhere.