There isn’t anyone better qualified at Arsenal to discuss the mental adjustment from Champions League to Europa League than Petr Cech.
Alexandre Lacazette’s former side, Lyon, played in the Europa League five times in the last six seasons but have not been an established Champions League club for some time.
The same cannot be said for Arsenal or, indeed, Chelsea, where Cech had to deal with the shock of demotion to the Europa League in the 2012-13.
Arsenal will watch Europe’s elite from their sofas this week for the first time in 20 years. Thursday’s visit of Cologne represents their new reality and Cech believes they have a choice to make.
“You make your decision,” he told Standard Sport. “At Chelsea, we were really disappointed to have been knocked of the group stage [of the Champions League] but we decided that for the first time and the last time, hopefully, we play in the Europa League so we want to win.
“So you decide what you want to do — either you take it seriously and you go to win it and you give yourself the chance to do it or you give yourself different priorities and see how it goes.”
Arsene Wenger, buoyed by the 3-0 win over Bournemouth but with Sunday’s trip to Chelsea in mind, is expected to give chances to fringe players David Ospina, Per Mertesacker, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and young Reiss Nelson.
Wenger must weigh up whether to include Alexis Sanchez, whose 15-minute cameo from the bench against Bournemouth began to a mixture of boos and cheers.
Cech said: “I spoke with Alexis and he wants to win.
“Sometimes people say ‘he does this, he does that’ but I think in a way, he is a guy who plays with all his passion and all his heart.”
