Arsene Wenger has arrived in the last dictatorship in Europe and ordered his Arsenal youngsters to show their “courage” in the hate-filled home of Belarus champions BATE Borisov.
The Gunners boss has left behind a raft of star names for the Europa League tie to be staged in the Borisov Arena closed for racist chanting in 2014.
He will send out his cup side with Per Mertesacker and Jack Wilshere lending vital experience to starlets like Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
And Wenger told the club's next generation to seize their chance as Arsenal bid to finish September unbeaten.
“This is the kind of job you do not get 10 opportunities to play for Arsenal,” said the Frenchman.
“When you get it, even if they only get 20 minutes, you have to convince people you have the qualities to do it and you have the courage to play and show your qualities.
“There is always an uncertainty. We know in training, you see in training that the player has the quality. Yes, he is here because he has the qualities. After, to show it during competition is something different.
"And in my experience you only discover that during the competition. They have a new stadium, they have a good crowd. I’ve heard that 17,000 capacity, so certainly it will be very loud.”
Alexander Lukashenko has been the Belarus president since 1994 and crushed dissent after the 2010 election. In 2014, equally backward fans abused Shakhtar Donetsk star Adriano.
Wenger insisted: “Look, no I don’t have any preconceived ideas. I hope that will not happen, and UEFA has always been very strong to deal with that.”
Wenger admitted Maitland-Niles, who played in the opening home win over Cologne, had to cut out his “lapses of concentration”.
And Mertesacker, who will take over as academy manager at the end of the season, added: “Those mistakes are not forgiven in high competition so it is a really good test to see who is willing to learn, willing to learn from mistakes very quickly and get on with it.
He (Maitland-Niles) is one of those prospects but that means nothing. There is a lot of hard work to come and he has to realise that and no matter what position he plays, he has to take advantage of the opportunity.”
While Arsenal have not lost in five matches, BATE have won the Belarus title for the last 11 years and are unbeaten at home in Europe in their last seven matches. The last team to beat them here was Barcelona in the Champions League group stages in 2015.
Wenger, who had arranged to meet former player Alex Hleb last night, said: “They are a team with good quality, technically strong, so we will need a good performance to have a chance.”
None of Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka or Alexandre Lacazette have made the 2,700-mile round trip before Sunday's Premier League game with Brighton.