Arsenal reached the first knockout stage by registering five wins and a draw from six matches as well as registering five consecutive clean sheets, but the Gunners have struggled for any consistency since the middle of December.
Whether Mesut Ozil still falls into that category is open to debate, with the German playmaker being left on the fringes of the squad with the 30-year-old seemingly not fitting into Emery’s system.That said, Arsenal also need to provide Ozil with a platform to showcase his talents if they are to successfully part ways with the player in the summer, and this is the perfect competition to provide Ozil with plenty of minutes.Emery will still want to give opportunities to his younger crop of players, but Ozil’s wage packet and an apparent lack of desire to leave the club means that there is more onus on Arsenal to achieve Champions League football for next season.
That is achievable – despite the presence of a number of high-quality teams in this competition – but Emery will want to move through to the last 16 with minimal fuss due to the recent fitness issues with his squad.