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It's official, there would be no Champions League football for Arsenal next season, as the club squandered its one shot at gatecrashing Europe's elite with their 4-1 loss to Chelsea in the Europa League final.
The Gunners' underperformance in the league saw them finish in 5th place and outside the Champions League places. The Europa League offered a second shot at glory, but the Londoners failed to take it.
Goals from Olivier Giroud, Eden Hazard and Pedro were enough to sink Arsenal to defeat, rendering Nigerian international Alex Iwobi's well taken goal nothing more than a mere consolation.
This was arguably Arsenal's biggest match in a decade, with the must-win nature of the fixture adding extra importance. However, the club faltered massively. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three reasons why Arsenal lost the 2019 Europa League final.
#3 Ozil failed to provide a creative spark
It is safe to say that Mesut Ozil is the biggest player in the current squad, with the World Cup winner having massive experience across the international and club scene.
He arrived at Arsenal from Real Madrid as the club's most expensive player in history and despite initially impressing, the former German international has seen his perfomance levels drop off over the last few years.
The 30-year-old has faced criticisms over his poor work rate and seeming disinterestedness at the club, which is rather irksome because he is the highest paid player at the club.
The Europa League final offered an opportunity for Ozil to step up to the plate and grab the ante, but he failed to do so, proving nothing more than a mere spectator for his duration on the pitch.
On his day, Ozil is one of the best playmakers in the world and Arsenal needed all of his creative genius to help break down the Chelsea backline, but did not happen as he went missing and failed to provide the creative spark his side needed until his departure from the field in the second half.
Goals win matches and more often than not, it is the job of the playmaker in the team to provide the creativity for scoring goals but Ozil failed in his duties and this played a role in seeing Arsenal suffer defeat in Baku.
#2 Eden Hazard was a difference maker
Unlike his opposite number, Eden Hazard was everything Chelsea needed him to be and some more in the fixture in Baku.
The 28-year-old started the match rather slowly by his high standards, but absolutely roared to life in the second half, proving too be the difference between both sides.
Following Giroud's opener, Hazard was on hand to provide a fine assist for Pedro to score Chelsea's second to give them more leverage in the match, before showing great composure to casually stroke a penalty in for Chelsea's third.
Iwobi's goal threatened the possibility of a thrilling comeback, but once again the Belgian international was on hand to quell such hopes, scoring Chelsea's fourth goal with a well taken finish to kill the contest and hand Chelsea the Europa League trophy.
Following his post-match comments, Eden Hazard all but confirmed that this was a farewell. What a way it was to bow out and Chelsea as a football club would be hard pressed to find a replacement a talented as their number 10.
#1 Chelsea were quite simply the better team
With this being the first time two clubs from the same city would contest the final of the Europa League, anticipation was rife that the match would provide excitement.
Following a good start to the fixture where they gave as good as they got, Arsenal started the game brightly, but faded out as the first half wore on before being completely obliterated in the second half.
Whereas Chelsea came out out of the dressing rejuvenated (with Giroud putting them ahead just four minutes after the restart), Arsenal came out totally bereft of ideas and played with a lack of purpose or intensity.
The Chelsea players smelled blood and went all out for the jugular, going three-nil up just 20 minutes into the second half.
Arsenal players effectively danced to Chelsea's tune, failing to offer any threat and lacking the wherewithal to match their opponent's intensity which came as a damn shame to their supporters who had traveled over 2,000 miles and spent thousands of dollars just to see their team play.
While the Chelsea players were active and dominant, their opponents were docile and meek and struggled to provide the kind of display befitting a European final.
Football is a game where more often than not, the better side on the day triumphs and this proved to be the case in the match between Chelsea and Arsenal.
