Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan ‘FORCED’ to miss Chelsea final in Baku

According to the Guardian, Arsenal players and staff are furious at UEFA’s failure to guarantee Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s safety for the upcoming Europa League final. Diplomatic tensions between Mkhitaryan’s native Armenia and Azerbaijan, the host nation for the final, exist because of a longstanding conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory. The midfielder could be a target for an attack because of unconfirmed rumours that he has visited the disputed region in recent years. He played in 11 of the 14 games, and none of his midfield team-mates have played more minutes in the competition than him. His pass set up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score his hat-trick goal in Arsenal's 4-2 semi-final second-leg win over Valencia. Both Mkhitaryan and Arsenal are deeply disappointed with UEFA's decision to select Baku as the host city for the final. Arsenal released a statement yesterday that was highly critical of UEFA's selection process and called for drastic changes to be made.

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