Arsenal coach Unai Emery has said he has no issue with having to play on the Monday night of a European week because televising matches “is important.”
Arsenal face Leicester in the Premier League at the Emirates on Monday before travelling to Portugal to play Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday.
It means they will play three games in seven days as they travel to Crystal Palace for an early kickoff the following Sunday.
But Emery rejected calls for the Premier League to help clubs out by stopping broadcasters from moving games ahead of European matches.
“The TV is very important. The TV is [free] to choose the matches Friday, Sunday, Monday,” he said.
“If they decide we are going to play Monday, we don’t stop to think if it is better or not to play Monday. We’re going to play. In Spain, it is the same.”
Emery added that his players would be able to handle the workload.
“Every player needs to feel [he is ready] to play every match,” he said. “If I decide to play with the same players Monday, Thursday, Sunday, these players can do that.
“The mentality is to think like this. We want to play a lot of matches. We want to continue doing our way with different possibilities tactically and with the players, but if we need [to play] a lot of matches with the players, we can do that.”
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