I understand fully why it was introduced. That does not mean that the intention has come to fruition. I think it is a distortion which can cause a team's approach to go either way.

Ballsy team and game plan from Emery

Dare I suggest the added incentive of scoring away due to the away goal rule may have influenced the decision to play both Lacazette and Aubameyang?

I think I called that line up.
Back 5, 2 holding mids, Ramsey instead of Özil and two strikers.

Exactly the team I would have picked. Come on you gooners

Sad state of affairs that these guys are the second best team in Italy.

Credit to us though Dec, comms are pointing out that Juve are the only side to win in Naples this season, and they beat Liverpool and held PSG in the CL.

Credit to us though Dec, comms are pointing out that Juve are the only side to win in Naples this season, and they beat Liverpool and held PSG in the CL.

I'd say our performance in the home leg was one of our best of the season. We played very well. Napoli have been dire though.

I've really enjoyed seeing a disciplined, well organised second half performance with all the players looking like they know what they're supposed to be doing.

I'd say the away goal doesn't succeed in making the away team attack most of the time. Man City took the game to Tottenham for most of the tie. Over the 180 minutes, they were unquestionably the team that attacked more. They went out.

I have two problems with it:

1. There really shouldn't be a reward for scoring the same amount of goals as your opponent.

2. Although it sometimes adds to the excitement it can also kill games in an instant. Tonight's game for example. Say Napoli go in at half time 1-0 up. The tie is beautifully balanced. Say it's still 1-0 with 20 mins left. Tension is building but then Arsenal score and it's all over barring the most unlikely comeback. Worse still is if a team such as Atletico scores an away goal after 5 minutes of the first leg. Cue 175 mins of parking the bus and general shitehousery.

The thinking behind it is admirable and it was probably a very good idea in the days before the back pass rule. But for me it is far too much of a distortion.

Don’t know much about the current Valencia side. With all the injuries piling up it could be reminiscent of our lurch to the Copenhagen final where we missed many. Squad rotation will be key and trying to re energise the players for Sunday must be tough

I still think the league represents our best chance of getting champions league.

I think Emery has done tremendously well considering the circumstances he inherited and the injuries throughout the campaign. If you told me at the start of the season with 5 games to go we would be in the top 4 and in a European semi I would have bitten your hand off. However if this thing does indeed implode then I expect our fans to give him dogs abuse

It is a very fine balancing act in terms of team selections from now on.

I still think both routes to the CL are very attainable but remain incredibly difficult and fraught with danger. Thus, we cannot afford to prioratise one over the other.
Players will need to be rotated for sure so Emery must get his selections spot-on for each game.

The route to the Europa final has only one away game which is helpful but it's a knock-out competition where we are still just one bad performance away from going out. Even if we reach the final it still remains something of a lottery, as anything can happen in a one-off game.

The top four route remains very tricky because of the away fixtures, however let's hope the Napoli away performance will give us some confidence.

It will certainly make for an interesting few weeks in which our season could be a glorious victory or a valiant failure.

If you told me at the start of the season with 5 games to go we would be in the top 4 and in a European semi I would have bitten your hand off. However if this thing does indeed implode then I expect our fans to give him dogs abuse

A possible Arsenal v Chelsea final with CL riding on it. Imagine missing out of top 4 in the league AND losing the cup final? I'd rather not. I do think we will get in the top 4 in some form or manner. Its possible Man Utd is the odd man out if we get in the top 4 and Chelsea wins it.

Crazy times. We win the next two matches and I think we will shade it. Assuming we beat Palace (not a foregone conclusion) and we put in an effort and win at Wolves, something a couple of the other top clubs haven't done, we will just shade it if other results happen as expected.
Lots of ifs, etc. but that's where we are at.

Agreed. The season has exceeded expectations. I have no idea who plays for Valencia but they don't look vary scary. They're a very mediocre 6th in La Liga and have only scored 36 goals in their 32 league games. I also get a feeling we have broken our away form hoodoo. The 11 that started last night (even with Özil for Ramsey) make a very good team. I'd back that team to beat Chelsea in the final if it came to that.

But ... there is a big dropoff in quality/form after that. As you say, rotation, let alone dealing with injuries and suspensions, is going to be a big headache. Even having a decent bench looks a bit challenging ...