On Wednesday, football fans will witness the inauguration event before the UEFA Champions League final. On this evening, two London teams, "Chelsea" and "Arsenal," will face off for the Europa League trophy.
For the first time in the history of this tournament, teams from the same city meet in the final. For both sides, these are undoubtedly the most important matches of the season, where it will be decided whether one team will finish the season with at least one trophy in hand.
This match is particularly important for the "Arsenal" team - not only will the champion be determined, but also their chances to compete in the Champions League next season. "Chelsea" already has a ticket to the mentioned tournament, so they are only fighting for the trophy.
The meeting in the Azerbaijani capital (Baku) will kick off at 22:00 Lithuanian time.
Both teams have come a long way in this tournament. Both "Arsenal" and "Chelsea" started their performances in the Europa League from the group stage, where neither team experienced any losses and finished in first place.
"Arsenal" crossed the barriers of BATE Borisov, Rennes, Napoli, and Valencia in the knockout stage. Interestingly, the "Gunners" suffered losses against their first two opponents, rather than against the seemingly stronger Napoli and Valencia teams.
The biggest threat of elimination from the tournament came in the match against Rennes when, after the first game, the opponents had a two-goal advantage. However, "Arsenal" bounced back in the second leg and achieved only victories until now. "The Gunners" defeated Napoli with a total score of 3:0 and Valencia with 7:3.
The "Chelsea" team, just like in the group stage, progressed through the knockout stage without any losses. "The Blues" did not face much opposition until the semifinals - they confidently dealt with teams like Malmo, Kiev Dynamo, and Prague Sparta.
In the semifinals, "Chelsea" drew with Frankfurt's "Eintracht," who did not give in easily to the aristocrats. However, "Chelsea" managed to advance to the final after two draw matches, triumphing over their opponents from Germany after a penalty shootout.
Both London clubs arrived in Azerbaijan with depleted lineups. Due to their carelessness in friendly matches, "Chelsea" lost Ruben Loftus-Cheek to an Achilles injury, who will miss the final along with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Antonio Rudiger.
Upon arriving in Baku, Maurizio Sarri faced another problem - N'Golo Kante suffered an injury during training, and there are doubts about his chances of appearing on the pitch.
The list of injured players for the "Arsenal" team is even longer - important figures like Hector Bellerin, Henrikh Mkhitaryan (absent due to political reasons), Aaron Ramsey, and Rob Holding will not aid the "Gunners." Denis Suarez and Konstantinos Mavropanos will also watch the final from the sidelines.
There are also doubts about Danny Welbeck, who has ankle problems.
Predicted starting lineups:
"Chelsea": (4-3-3) Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen, David Luiz, Alonso; Kante/Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Giroud, Hazard.
"Arsenal": (3-4-1-2) Cech; Koscielny, Sokratis, Mustafi; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac; Ozil; Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Interesting Facts
The last time two English teams faced each other in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final was in 1972 when two current Premier League teams, Tottenham and Wolves, clashed.
This will be the 198th meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal. Out of all these matches, the clubs have only met three times in European competitions. The last time was in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Champions League when Chelsea triumphed with a total score of 3:2.
This final will be a milestone for both clubs in European tournaments - only Manchester United (7) and Liverpool (14) have had more appearances among English teams.
Teams from the same country have met in the Europa League final only twice in the history of the tournament - Braga against Porto (2011) and Atletico Madrid against Bilbao (2012).
Arsenal has lost five finals in Europe. Their only triumph was in 1994 when they defeated Parma in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
On the other hand, Chelsea has won four out of five finals played in European tournaments - two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup trophies and one each in the Champions League and Europa League.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored eight goals in the Europa League this season, while Chelsea's forward Olivier Giroud has scored 10 goals to his name.
