Friday 3 May 2019 13:08, UK
Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos is not contemplating ending the season without Champions League qualification.
A run of three successive Premier League defeats means achieving Champions League qualification by finishing in the top four could be problematic for the Gunners.
But lifting the Europa League trophy is another way to qualify for the elite event - and Unai Emery's side have a good chance of reaching the final after Thursday's 3-1 semi-final first-leg defeat of Valencia.
Sokratis, who arrived at Arsenal from Dortmund last summer, said: "At this moment, I believe and I think only this - to play in the Champions League.
"We can go to the final and why not win the Europa League?
"Firstly, we want to to play in the Champions League. Of course I came here because I would like to play in the Champions League, I didn't come here to play in the Europa League.
"This is the point, our manager and the staff behind him help us every day, we work a lot with the training, the video, we analyse everything, and I hope in the end we are right."
Arsenal's defending has been criticised of late - and Sokratis agrees there is room for improvement.
"When you play at a team like Arsenal and you lose three games, of course you hear critics and you have to improve," he added.
"We are here to improve, to give the best for the club, for the fans and for us also.
"I think that the biggest point is that we have to stay focused. We are a big family and we are all together, we stay all together.
"In one week, for example, (Laurent) Koscielny makes a mistake or I make a mistake or (Shkodran) Mustafi the same, Nacho (Monreal) too. We are people and not robots.
"Of course we have to improve and we have every game to give 100 per cent, and I think the critics are good to hear, to improve, but they do not touch us mentally."
