Arsenal boss Unai Emery has explained his decision to leave attackers Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe on the bench during Thursday's loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The result leaves the Gunners without a win in their last seven games, their worst run since 1992.
Asked why he didn't use the pair, Emery told BT Sport: "We had some injuries and we needed to change David Luiz and then we had a problem with Mustafi.
"Xhaka wanted to continue playing. His match today was good and he helped the team. I am being positive but I'm also realistic and we lost against a good opponent.
"We have improved from our last match and we are still first and have the opportunity to qualify, but we missed the opportunity tonight."
