Mikel Arteta provided updates on a number of Arsenal players following Saturday’s draw with Brentford, with the Champions League quarter-final second leg in Madrid on Wednesday.
Arsenal hold a 3-0 lead over Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final tie, but the team still have to come through a second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Saturday’s match against Brentford eased a couple of concerns, with both Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka featuring after knocks in the first leg. Mikel Arteta insisted afterwards that Rice isn’t carrying an injury.
“No, he was fine,” Arteta said. “Yesterday he trained with normality. He wasn’t feeling any pain. That’s why we put him in from the start.”
But along with that news came a few new concerns. Ben White missed the game completely, whilst Jorginho and Thomas Partey were withdrawn early with new issues.
Arteta couldn’t give much information on White, saying only: “We don’t know. He could not be in the condition to be in the squad today and be selected. We have a few days, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
On Jorginho, Arteta confirmed that it looks like a rib injury, adding: “I don’t exactly know, he had problems breathing. He said he could not carry on.”
As for Partey, Arteta said: “He felt something so we didn’t want to take any risks. I haven’t spoken to the doctors yet, so they will check in now and see how he is.”
The midfielder was seen in the mixed zone speaking to reporters after the game, suggesting the problem isn’t hugely serious.
Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz, and Riccardo Calafiori are all expected to miss Wednesday’s game, with Calafiori the closest to a comeback.
Arteta suggested this week that Havertz may return ahead of schedule to play for Arsenal again this season, but he’s still a way off right now. The other three (Jesus, Tomiyasu, and Gabriel) are certainly out for the season.