Wednesday 19 September 2018 17:23, UK
Arsenal’s summer acquisition Stephan Lichtsteiner is desperate for Champions League football and believes the club have the talent to get back into Europe's top tier again next season.
This will be the second successive year that the Gunners will be spending in Europe's second-tier club competition - the Europa league - and face Vorskla Poltava in Thursday's opener.
"I am hungry to get back to the Champions League," said the 34-year-old Swiss defender.
"But it is a long way and we have two chances - the Europa League and the Premier League. We want to try as I am sure we want to play Champions League next year."
Lichsteiner is yet to start a game for Arsenal having arrived from Serie A side Juventus on a free transfer in the summer.
"One thing I learned with Juventus is to have respect for each competition," he added.
"In the last four or five years with Juventus, we tried to play for all the titles, for all the trophies. While the Italian Cup wasn't that important beforehand, we started to play for it with the best team possible.
"I think in football you have to respect all the trophies. Of course the Champions League is a more glamorous title, but the Europa League is a really good chance for the team, for the club and all the players to win this nice trophy.
"I think for that we have to respect all teams in all competitions to give all games 100 per cent."
