What Unai Emery told his players during training ground meeting ahead of BATE clash

Arsenal are under intense pressure as they lost Europa League first leg match against BATE Borisov with 1-0 score and now their hopes for the competition hanging in the balance. Emery has spent the past 48 hours trying to ensure his players remain calm - with a team get together held before training at London Colney on Wednesday morning. “I am not speaking with the players, telling them we are playing under pressure,” said Arsenal’s head coach. “We are playing with our big demands because we want to play a match like that, with a difficult result, with a difficult team. “We prefer to play after a good result away in the first 90 minutes but we can’t do that. I am looking for our response against them after this result.” Emery added: “It is very big opportunity for us and a very big challenge for us to play at home with this result and manage 90 minutes and also to know we can play extra-time if we can’t do the difference. “I spoke to the players to say we must be in good preparation to do that. “We need to be calm, we worked very well Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for this match. But on Thursday we need our mind to be very smart in 90 minutes to manage the best possible moment on the game. “In the Europa League we want to do something important and we have an opportunity to do something important after a bad result in the first 90 minutes. “They [the players] are looking to respond on the pitch. I have the confidence and trust in our work and in their work, but we have to be very, very focused.”

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