Photo : Justin Setterfield ( Getty Images ) Another week, another incident of supporter racism in soccer, this time in jolly ol’ London. After Valencia crumbled away to Arsenal 3-1 in the first leg of the Europa League semifinal, Telegraph journalist Tomé Morrissy-Swan captured a handful of Valencia supporters throwing up the Nazi salute and making monkey gestures at their rival fans: Advertisement (Shout out to the guy audibly scoffing a “oh, fuck off” as the Nazi salute goes up.) Valencia issued a statement on Friday, condemning the behavior, while expressing “utter disgust and absolute intolerance” towards the gestures. The team also said it was working with authorities to identify the fans in order to take action against them, implying that they would lose their season tickets if they are in fact season ticket holders. Not leaving well enough alone, though, the club also hit them with the “gotta hear both sides” argument: 3. While these actions are completely unjustifiable under any circumstances, VCF is also working to obtain more information about any possible provocations leading up to the verbal and gesticular exchange between the home and away stands.﻿ That the club is investigating if the sudden slip into Nazism was justified is as 2019 a story as possible. Maybe the Valencia fans will say they were unaware of both Nazis and anti-black racism. Hey, it worked for Wayne Hennessey.<doc-sep>Arsenal take a 3-1 lead into the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tie with Valencia on Thursday night, as they sit on the cusp of a place in the final. Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have given Unai Emery’s men the advantage, and the attacking duo will undoubtedly be crucial in the reverse fixture to complete the job. SEE MORE: Arsenal given golden opportunity to seal £99m double transfer However, Arsenal have been porous at the back this season and having conceded an away goal, it remains to be seen if that comes back to haunt them as they’ll be desperate to reach the final in Baku later this month. The Gunners have already been dealt a huge blow by all-but failing to finish in the top four in the Premier League this season, and so they will be desperate to get back to the Champions League by using a different route in winning this competition. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Emery has gone with a strong starting line-up, with his main attacking threats getting the nod to try and grab a key away goal to potentially kill the tie. Mesut Ozil will look to pull the strings behind Lacazette and Aubameyang, with Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka starting alongside him in midfield to offer some solidity and defensive protection. As noted above, that will be needed given Arsenal’s poor defensive form this season, and so Emery will hope that he doesn’t have to rely on his dynamic duo up front to get them out of trouble if they concede early. Based on the tweets below, one decision from the Spanish tactician that went down particularly well was leaving Shkodran Mustafi out of his starting line-up, with the German defensive ace coming under fire on a regular basis this season having been error prone. With Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis at the heart of the backline, Arsenal will hope it’s enough to keep Valencia quiet and advance to the final. ? Here’s how we line up for tonight’s semi-final second leg… ? #UEL — Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 9, 2019 Valencia don’t have a number 27 and we don’t have Mustafi, we should be safe — Ghoochannejhad (@_C_hacha) May 9, 2019 No Mustafi got me like pic.twitter.com/pfWcoKJNgY — Robert Greville (@RobertGreville) May 9, 2019 No mustafi alhamdulillah — Ramadan Ramsey (@sahid2304) May 9, 2019 No Mustafi. Get the fuck in — ??? (@Sidenomenal) May 9, 2019 No Mustafi? Inject ????? — Rowe (@JordanRowes) May 9, 2019 No Mustafi = ez win — Mateusz (@MzilPL) May 9, 2019 Yeesssssssss!!!!!! No mustafi — cristian (@Coyg_cristian17) May 9, 2019<doc-sep>
London (CNN) The scourge of racism in football showed its face once again Thursday after Arsenal's Europa League victory over Spanish club Valencia was marred by visiting supporters appearing to make Nazi salutes and monkey gestures. "We utterly condemn such behavior," an Arsenal spokesman told CNN. "It has no place in society or football. We are working with Valencia on this and continue to encourage fans to report incidents and to provide witness statements so effective action can be taken. In a statement, Valencia said it "publicly condemns and expresses its utter disgust" for those responsible for the Nazi salutes and monkey gestures. It also added that it was working with the appropriate authorities to identify those responsible, insisting it would take disciplinary action against supporters. JUST WATCHED England players suffer racism in Montenegro Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH England players suffer racism in Montenegro 01:12 But Valencia was criticized by Kick it Out after stating that while the actions were "absolutely unjustifiable," they would be assessing whether there was any "possible provocations." "Racist behavior cannot be justified whatever the provocation." Kick it Out told CNN. "To suggest otherwise casts a doubt on the sincerity of calling such behavior 'absolutely unjustifiable.'" JUST WATCHED How Borussia Dortmund is tackling anti-Semitism Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How Borussia Dortmund is tackling anti-Semitism 04:30 Raheem Sterling Thursday's incident was the latest in a number of high-profile occurrences of racism in football in recent months. In March, Raheem Sterling urged football's authorities to do more to tackle racism after he and his teammates were subjected to racist abuse during England's 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifying win in Montenegro. As a punishment, UEFA, European football's governing body, fined Montenegro 20,000 euros ($22,000) and ordered that it play its next qualifying game behind closed doors.