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Arsène Wenger Confident Arsenal Can Prosper from Champions League Absence

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. (AFP)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. (AFP)
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Arsène Wenger Confident Arsenal Can Prosper from Champions League Absence

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. (AFP)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. (AFP)

For Arsène Wenger, the boot is on the other foot – well, almost. The Arsenal manager flagged up a trend at the end of last season when he noted that Chelsea and Leicester City, the two most recent Premier League champions, were unencumbered by the demands of European football during their triumphant campaigns.

“Because the league is so physically difficult, maybe it is very difficult to cope with both,” Wenger said. “We will see how Chelsea respond next season.”

Arsenal’s league campaign ended in frustration when they finished fifth, meaning they missed out on Champions League qualification for the first time since 1997. But at least they had freed themselves up for a clear run at the domestic title. Not quite.

One of the keys to Arsenal’s season will be how they contend with the Europa League, with the unique Thursday-Sunday scheduling that it entails. Will Wenger rest his first-choice players to have them firing for the more serious business of the league? Yes, he suggested. That would be the plan.

“I will always play a team that has a good chance to win the next game,” Wenger said. “In the Europa League, if we can afford sometimes to rest some players, we will do it. But we have to adapt to the level of the competition and see, first, what kind of group we play in.”

Wenger had earlier been asked how he felt before a season with no Champions League football. “For us, it is a good opportunity to focus completely on the Premier League,” he replied.

The manager has signposted his intentions and it may be a popular move to give some of the club’s younger players – such as Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock – an opportunity in the Europa League. Wenger intends to sell a clutch of players, including Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs and Lucas Pérez, but his squad will remain extremely deep.

Wenger offered further insight into his feelings towards the Europa League when he said the winners ought not to be granted entry into the Champions League. He even revealed he had voted against the proposal, which came into force in the 2014-15 season. To him, a big club should not view the Europa League as a kind of insurance policy in terms of Champions League qualification.

“You cannot go into the season and think that,” Wenger said. “I was always against it [the Europa League winners qualifying for the Champions League] because, at some stage, it can influence the championship. If a team is in a position in April where they have more chance to win the Europa League, they can let some games go in the championship and not completely focus on the regularity of the competition.

“Apart from Manchester United last season, who won the Europa League [having started in the competition], all the years before it was always a team who was kicked out of the Champions League [that won it]. That’s why, when we voted in Geneva [for the route into the Champions League], I was always against it.”

Wenger’s numbers do not bear scrutiny. Since the format of the Europa League – then the Uefa Cup – was changed in 1999-2000, only seven clubs have lifted the trophy after dropping down from the Champions League. Arsenal almost won it in that first season, after entering through the Champions League, only to lose the final to Galatasaray on penalties.

Wenger’s team finished last season 18 points adrift of Chelsea but they showed in the FA Cup final they could get the better of them over 90 minutes. “Last year, Chelsea did not play in the European Cup and, certainly, they were a bit more consistent in the Premier League,” Wenger said. “In the final, we have shown that the gap was not as high, maybe. I expect Chelsea to fight for the championship again and for us, when we have made 75 points, as we did last season, the target is to get 10 points more. With 10 points more, you are in there.”

Wenger is still there, in situ at the Emirates Stadium after all of the uncertainty over his contract renewal last season, and he is gripped by that eternal optimism. “I am sorry I am still here,” he said, with a smile. “I can understand that you want to kill me but, at the moment, I survive.”

The Guardian Sport

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Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Max Verstappen cruised to a fourth consecutive Formula 1 championship on Saturday night by finishing fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen needed only to finish ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren to give Red Bull a fourth straight driver championship. The Dutchman started fifth but was already up to second by the 10th lap around the street circuit that includes the famed Las Vegas Strip.
Norris, who had to score at least three points more than Verstappen to extend the championship fight, finished sixth. Verstappen needed only to finish higher than Norris to win the title, which he did with two races remaining on the season.
He ended the race up 63 points over Norris with two events remaining this season.
“Max Verstappen you are a four-time world champion," team principal Christian Horner said on the radio. "That is a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement. You can be incredibly proud of yourself as we are."
Verstappen, only the sixth driver in F1 history to win at least four titles, sounded unusually emotional on the radio.
“Oh My God, what a season. Four times. Thank you, thank you guys,” he said. “We gave it all.”
The race was won, meanwhile, by George Russell who was followed by Lewis Hamilton in the first 1-2 sweep for the Mercedes drivers since 2022. Hamilton came from 10th on the grid — two weeks after a demoralizing race in Brazil — to capture his podium finish.
The duo crossed the finish line under a checkered flag waved by actor Sylvester Stallone.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished third for Ferrari as the constructor championship remains a tight battle between leader McLaren and Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, his teammate, was fourth. Red Bull had won the title that pays roughly $150 million in prize money the last two seasons but has slipped to third in the standings.
But that championship battle appears headed to next month's season finale in Abu Dhabi. McLaren has a 24-point lead over Ferrari headed into this weekend's race in Qatar after Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh in Las Vegas.
“Max deserved to win it. He drove a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else,” Norris said. “Max just doesn't have a weakness. When he's got the best car, he dominates and when he's not got the best car, he's still just there always.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, made easy work of Norris after a season where the McLaren driver pushed him harder than he'd been challenged since Verstappen's first title in 2021.
“To stand here as a four-time world champion is something I never thought would be possible,” Verstappen told actor Terry Crews, who moderated the podium news conference held in front of the Bellagio's famed fountains.
“It was a very challenging season and I had to be calm. I think this season taught me a lot of lessons and we handled it well as a team, so that of course makes it a very special and beautiful season.”
Verstappen, who is 27, won 19 races last year. He opened this season on a tear but a long winless streak from June until Brazil two weeks ago has him with only eight wins, his fewest since 2020.
Verstappen asked at the Bellagio what time it was, noting he was in Las Vegas and “I'm very thirsty.” He had a champagne celebration awaiting him.
Race-winner Russell, meanwhile, said he’d be skipping his scheduled flight home to celebrate the victory with actor Crews. He also twice had to sit down on the podium to wipe champagne out of his eyes.
Verstappen was cruising in third with about 20 laps remaining and not overly pushing when Red Bull urged Verstappen to be patient over the team radio.
“Max, just don't lose sight of our aim today, yeah?” he was told.
Verstappen wasn't interested in receiving any instructions.
“Yeah, yeah. I'm doing my race,” he replied.
When he later saw the Ferrari drivers behind him, he asked for instructions because of the constructor championship implications.
"Do you want me to try to keep them behind or what?" Verstappen asked of Sainz and Leclerc.
"I think you should, yeah," Red Bull told Verstappen.
He couldn't hold them off but it made no difference as his season was dominant enough to match former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel as four-time champions for the organization.
This was the second year of the race after last year's debut was a bit of a disaster in that locals were livid for months over ongoing construction, as well as traffic detours and delays, the inability to access many local businesses, outrageous price gouging by the tourism industry as well as LVGP ticketing, and then a loose valve cover that nearly destroyed Sainz's Ferrari minutes into the first practice.
It caused an hours-long delay for repairs, fans were kicked out of the circuit, and F1 ran practice until 4 a.m. — when it legally had to reopen the streets to the public.
This year has been far less hectic, in part because all of the infrastructure headaches were a year ago, but also that last year's race was spectacular. Despite all its speed bumps, the actual running of the race was one of the best of the F1 season.
Russell started on the pole ahead of Sainz, who wanted redemption after the valve-cover fiasco last year. He had to serve a penalty because his car was damaged in the incident.
“I was hoping Vegas had something to offer me after last year, but I will take a podium," Sainz said. "I was looking at every manhole, avoiding them this time.”
The race is the final stop in the United States for F1, which has exploded in American popularity the last five years. The trio of races in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas are more than any other country.
After the race completion, F1 next week is expected to announce it will expand the grid to 11 teams to make room for an American team backed by General Motors' Cadillac brand. The team was initially started by Michael Andretti, who could not receive approval from F1 on his expansion application.
Andretti has since turned over his ownership stake to Indiana-businessman Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They would run the Cadillac F1 team that would likely join the grid in 2026.
The announcement of the American team did not come during the weekend to not derail from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is the showpiece of the Liberty Media portfolio.
The race drew 306,000 fans over three days.