Arsenal full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner has outlined his desire to help the club back into the Champions League after two seasons away.
The Gunners qualified for Europe's premier club competition 19 years in a row prior to last season but have finished outside the top four in each of the past two Premier League campaigns to bring their long Champions League presence to an end.
Unai Emery's side will instead line up against Ukrainian outfit Vorskla Poltava in their opening Europa League group game on Thursday night, but Lichtsteiner insists that his side will still "respect" the competition.
"I am hungry to get back to the Champions League. 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," Lichtsteiner told reporters.
"One thing I learned with Juventus is to have respect for each competition. 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%."
Lichtsteiner is expected to make his full debut for Arsenal when they welcome Vorskla to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
Barney Corkhill
