Fans react on Twitter as Arsenal lose out on Champions League spot next season
Arsenal squandered their hopes of playing Champions League football next season after they were held to a 1-1 draw against Brighton at the Emirates on Sunday.
The Gunners needed to win both of their remaining games for a chance to get into the top four and even then their qualification would depend on London rivals, Chelsea.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's early opener appeared to set the course for a crucial win for Arsenal but a penalty by Glenn Murray equalised the score.
The Gunners' only hope at a return to the Champions League is the Europa League, where they are set to face Valencia in the second leg of their semi-final fixture. Unai Emery's men established a 3-1 win over the La Liga outfit in the first leg and will hope to secure a place in the final with an advantageous result in the closing leg.
Speaking after the game, Emery said,
"I think we worked and tried but didn’t get the result for taking chances next week. Now our way is to be strong in our focus for Thursday."
"We are going to be stronger in our mentality to prepare for the match on Thursday. And we are going to give the best individual and collective performances in the last matches, above all [against] Burnley."
"I think we can speak now about the different situations and issues in the season, but it's better to take the focus for Thursday against Valencia - and we are going to do the analysis also."
"We knew it is going to be difficult but our focus is now the Europa League. We have the opportunity in the Europa League to do something important and we will try and do that."
"On Thursday we have the second leg and have this one title to play for. It's a way to get into the Champions League. Above all, for us the Premier League is the first competition and we couldn't be in the top four."
Twitter has since exploded with reactions to the news: