Dire football and great trips – Arsenal fans on life in the Europa League

“The game was surreal – like a pre-season friendly”

I was actually really looking forward to being in the Europa League. It’s about as first world as problems get, but the annual trips to Munich and Barcelona had become a little dull. Plus, Arsenal stand a much better chance of winning the Europa League than they do the Champions League.

However, I was pretty disappointed by the group stages. Borisov was a fantastic trip, but the game was totally surreal. The entire ground was supporting Arsenal, which robbed the occasion of intensity – it was like a pre-season friendly. Belarus was a lovely place to visit, however (though they have been in the Champions League several times now) and Cologne was a great trip.

The football in the group stages was pretty dire, in truth. A mixture of Arsenal playing unfamiliar, scratch sides and really quite poor opponents made for some low quality fare. Nottingham Forest took our Europa League side apart with ease, which shows you the level of competition we faced, without wishing to be too unkind.

It’s a shame really because it started intriguingly with Cologne friendly invasion of the Emirates. But that intrigue did not sustain. Östersund ought to be an interesting tie, but I am hoping for better in the knockout stage if we manage to knock the Swedish side out.

I am not down on the Europa League at all – I have watched the knockout stages in previous years and found it really great fun. But I am quite wary of what it does to the domestic fixture list. Arsenal have played very few Premier League away games on a Saturday and commuting to away matches on a Sunday is a bit of a nightmare for obvious reasons. TS

“The Emirates had never known such passion”

For years we teased Tottenham for being in the Europa League, taunting them with chants about Thursday nights. But secretly we worried that we might end up in their shoes. Then our fears were realised.

But after seven successive Champions League exits at the round of 16 stage, I’ve found the Europa League to a refreshing and enjoyable experience. Our home match against Cologne in September was one of my most exciting experiences from a fan point of view since the early 1990s.

The Germans were given an allocation of 3,000 tickets but at least 20,000 of their fans showed up in North London. They flooded all areas of the ground, roared on their team unconditionally, chanted “What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” and turned the occasion into a raucous carnival.

The too-cool-for-school Emirates had never known such childlike passion. I had tears in my eyes. It was as if the Cologne fans were divine messengers: sent to teach us Gooners – an entitled, aloof crew – not to be so serious and snotty.

Playing in the Europa League isn’t so humiliating– certainly nowhere near as mortifying as two successive 5-1 defeats to Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League. Arsène Wenger has deployed a ‘B team’ in the competition, preventing it from draining our top names and allowing youngsters like Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock priceless experience.

Us fans have also been handed a useful wake-up call: Arsenal are currently closer to being a Europa League-winning club than a Champions League-winning one. It’s been clarifying and fun. But would I relish another season of the Europa League? Steady on. CNB

“Belgrade’s craft beer scene is the pivo pinnacle”

Following Arsenal in the Europa League this season has been an experience I can best describe as polarised. On the one hand, the quality of the football has been absolutely woeful, and it’s been sobering to experience the drop-off between this and the Champions League. On the other hand, the matchdays have been thoroughly intoxicating.

Those 20,000 Cologne fans giving us an extra hour in the pub, BATE Borisov’s spaceship ground in the middle of the forest, the unrivalled fervour of Red Star’s Delije, and quaffing copious amounts of Kolsch in Lukas Podolski’s pub have all been unforgettable experiences. Minsk is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited, a real hidden gem I never would have visited otherwise, and Belgrade’s craft beer scene really is the pivo pinnacle.

I’m currently gearing up to be the coldest I’ve ever felt in my life, in a remote village in northern Sweden that I’d never heard of until a few months ago, and in many ways the traveller in me relishes that more than another trip to Munich or Barcelona. However, from a football perspective, Östersund kind of sums up where Arsenal are at the moment: marooned on an icy tundra, gazing up at the stars above, freezing, praying to one day grace the celestial heights of Titles and the Champions League again. TH