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Emery: Ozil won't play Europa League opener in Germany

David Price / Arsenal FC / Getty

Mesut Ozil will not take part in Arsenal's first Europa League match Thursday against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ozil has only played 71 minutes so far this season, but manager Unai Emery explained he wants the 30-year-old - along with defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos - to be fresh for Arsenal's next Premier League encounter against Aston Villa.

"We are playing a lot of matches and I want to use different players, and also have some rotation in the first 11 and in the 19 players in the squad for (Frankfurt)," Emery said, according to The Guardian's Nick Ames.

"We are going to play another match on Sunday. My decision is because he played, and I decided who the players are who can be the best for tomorrow, and also the players not, and those are Sokratis and Mesut."

Ozil has been limited this season after he and teammate Sead Kolasinac were the targets of an apparent robbery attempt in north London in July. He was held out of Arsenal's opening four matches due to the team's concerns about his safety.

Emery denied that he's resting Ozil to protect the German midfielder from a hostile reception; Ozil quit the national team last July due to alleged "racism and disrespect" he experienced in relation to his Turkish background.

German fans also jeered Ozil and former national team member Ilkay Gundogan during a friendly match ahead of the 2018 World Cup after they appeared in a picture alongside Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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