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Arsenal’s Champions League Hope Vanishes, Says Cech

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Arsenal are likely to take a break when the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League begins. The qualification for it is for the club to rank among the top for in the English Premiership.
The possibility of that has become a mirage if the words of Goalkeeper Petr Cech are anything to consider.
The goalkeeper has admitted that club’s hopes of finishing in the top four were effectively ended by their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Spurs claimed bragging rights in the final North London derby at White Hart Lane courtesy of goals from Dele Alli and Harry Kane, with the result also ensuring that Tottenham will finish above the Gunners for the first time since 1995.
The defeat leaves Arsenal sixth in the Premier League table, six points adrift of the top four, and Cech acknowledged that they are unlikely to breach that gap during their final five games of the season.
“I feel angry and disappointed because obviously this is not a game we wanted to lose and this is a very big disappointment for us. It hurts because it was a huge game for both teams. They needed to win to keep their title chances alive. We needed to win to keep our Champions League finishing position [hopes] alive,” he told the club’s official website.
“Obviously we are very disappointed because it’s a north London derby, it means a lot to the fans and it meant a lot to the club, to us. We needed three points and in the end we have none. Our target is to play for titles, so we are disappointed with our season because we aren’t playing for a (league) title.
“We have five games to play and we are out of the title race. It was not the objective (to finish below Tottenham), so we are disappointed with that. But Tottenham finishing above us or doing better is one thing, but I think the most important thing for the club, for the players, for everybody is to reach your own targets, not to worry about what the others are doing.”
Arsenal are next in action at home to Manchester United on Sunday.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and the country’s most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022.

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