Arsenal face nightmare week with three matches in six days and a 2,400-mile Europa League trip to Belarus... but at least the war games are over

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Arsene Wenger tried his best to pretend Arsenal weren't missing the Champions League when he addressed the media late last week.

The Gunners boss attempted to explain that the group stage in Europe's elite competition had become 'routine' and argued it 'has lost some attraction power.'

But if Wenger still has enthusiasm for the Europa League - the second-tier tournament Arsenal find themselves in this season after two decades at the top table - then it will probably have faded by the end of this week.

Arsene Wenger on the training ground preparing for a busy week of three games in six days

Arsenal will make a 2,400-mile round trip from London to Borisov in Belarus to play BATE 

In a nightmare piece of fixture scheduling for Wenger and his squad, they play a home match against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Monday evening before making the 2,404-mile round trip to Belarus to play BATE Borisov on Thursday night.

Once back in London, the Gunners play again at midday on Sunday, when they welcome Brighton and Hove Albion to the Emirates Stadium, meaning three games inside six days.

With the flight time on each leg to Belarus coming in at just under three hours, recovery time between the games will be tight and Wenger certainly won't have time to work on anything new on the training ground.

There was more of a hint of frustration in Wenger's voice when he said: 'Television decides when you play and that's it [all three games will be screened live].

'Where it becomes more difficult is after the Europa League game in Belarus. We then play Sunday morning.

'From Monday to Thursday, time will be short and especially from Thursday to Sunday. But you have to adapt.

'Maybe we have to make some decisions in BATE Borisov that will give us a chance to recover between the two games.'

Arsenal will play at the 13,126-capacity Borisov Arena on Thursday evening

The Borisov Arena certainly has an interesting and unique exterior design

If Arsenal fans were under any illusions that the Europa League is as glamorous as the Champions League, Thursday's trip to play BATE will certainly shatter them.

It is one of the many Eastern European backwaters that litter the competition, meaning long travel times and red-eye flights.

Manchester United discovered this undesirable long-haul schedule last season when their run to eventual victory in the competition involved slogs to Zorya Luhansk of Ukraine, Fenerbahce of Turkey and Rostov of Russia.

The trip to Belarus is for Arsenal die-hards only, with just 794 tickets allocated for visitors at the 13,126-capacity Borisov Arena.

Direct flights to the country's main airport in Minsk from the United Kingdom are limited and expensive, and accommodation options in Borisov, a one-hour train journey away from Minsk, are limited.

BATE player Stanislav Dragun (right) in action against Red Star Belgrade in their opening game

To round it all off, the stadium is almost 5km outside the centre of town, meaning this truly will be a planes, trains and automobiles excursion.

The countryside around Borisov was the scene of war games exercises last week involving Belorussian and Russian armed forces with fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and thousands of personnel all involved.

The one saving grace for Arsenal is that the two Premier League matches that bookend this trip are home fixtures. They'll certainly be covering enough ground already this week.

Belorussian and Russian armed forces took part in war games exercises near Borisov last week

Tanks and helicopters were also involved in the mock war exercises near the city

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko takes the salute during the military exercises

A military jet flies during the Zapad-2017 (West-2017) joint-military exercises in Borisov

Shells explode into a huge fireball during the simulation of a battle last week

The flags of Russia and Belarus are visible as military helicopters open fire