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Unai Emery proud of Arsenal's mentality and spirit after Valencia win

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Unai Emery reflects on Arsenal's 7-3 aggregate victory over Valencia and suggests the penny may have finally dropped for his squad in Europe

Arsenal manager Unai Emery says he is "proud" of the mentality his players showed in their Europa League semi-final win over Valencia on Thursday.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit a superb hat-trick as Arsenal won 4-2 at the Mestalla (7-3 on aggregate), meaning they will face Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku on May 29.

The Gunners had struggled in previous rounds against Rennes and BATE Borisov, but Emery - who himself has won the competition three times - believes his players have now found the required mental qualities to go all the way in the Europa League.

"I'm very proud of the players and our mentality in this competition. We took a big performance collectively and individually," he told Sky Sports News.

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Image: Aubameyang has scored eight goals during Arsenal's run to the Europa League final

"I think the spirit in this competition is growing, we are feeling that this is a great opportunity for us to do something important.

"Today for example, this interview is very different if we lost (on Thursday).

"We can happy because our holidays are now later, but now we are going to play in a final."

Also See:

Arsenal face a trip to Burnley in the final round of Premier League fixtures knowing a defeat could allow Manchester United to leapfrog them into sixth in the final standings.

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