Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang said he would not want Arsenal to face Chelsea in the Europa League final.
The Premier League clubs are well placed to meet there after Arsenal won their semi-final first leg at home to Valencia 3-1 and Chelsea drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Aubameyang, who scored Arsenal’s third goal, said of his side’s London rivals: “I don’t want them. We know they’re a great team but hopefully first we will go to the final and then I prefer to play Frankfurt because we’ve already played against Chelsea [in the Premier League]. I know Frankfurt are really good and, if we both go through to the final, it will be a hard one.”
An all-English final in Baku would be the first in the competition since Tottenham and Wolves met in 1972 in what was then the Uefa Cup.
Alexandre Lacazette scored Arsenal’s opening two goals against Valencia and Aubameyang talked up their partnership: “We have the same vision about football when we talk in the dressing room – the same ideas and the same feelings. The fact that we understand each other is the thing that makes the difference in games.”
Arsenal are at home to Brighton on Sunday as they chase a Champions League place via league position or by winning the Europa League. Aubemeyang added: “Hopefully we will reach the final and win this cup because it’s our target since the beginning of the season.”