Arsenal are about to confront a daunting challenge in their eagerly awaited Champions League clash against Real Madrid, facing the painful possibility of missing two crucial first-team players.
Their aspirations of mirroring last week’s performance against the Spanish giants have been overshadowed by troubling injury news.
The Gunners brilliantly surged to a stunning 3-0 lead in the quarter-final first leg, thanks to two impressive free-kicks from Declan Rice and a goal from Mikel Merino.
A win in the return leg would not only be momentous but would also solidify Arsenal’s first Champions League semi-final appearance since 2009.
Sadly, Arsenal will be without long-term injured players Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel for their pivotal trip to the Spanish capital, although Mikel Arteta was boosted by the news Kai Havertz could return from injury sooner than expected.
But their injury list may not end there…
Two midfielders could miss out on Real Madrid second leg
Jorginho was spotted leaving the pitch and clutching his shoulder in the late stages of the Gunners 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday.
Thomas Partey is also a doubt, the Daily Mail has reported, for Arsenal’s clash with Real Madrid after picking up an unspecified knock against Brentford.
The midfielder, who opened the scoring for the Gunners with a second-half strike and later compared Rice to Zinedine Zidane after the game, was substituted off at 69 minutes.
The 31-year-old is being assessed ahead of Wednesday’s game and the Gunners are hopeful that he will be in contention.
“He [Partey] felt something so we didn’t want to take any risks,” said Mikel Arteta on Saturday.
When asked if Partey will be fit for Wednesday, Arteta added: “We don’t know, I haven’t spoken to the doctors yet. So they will check him now and see how he is.”
In light of Arsenal’s short-handed midfield, Arteta is likely to opt for a trio of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Merino in the middle of the park.
The latter has often put a shift in up front for the Gunners lately, but may be taken over by Leandro Trossard and drop back into his natural role in central midfield to cover for his injured team-mates.
Thomas Partey’s season so far
Partey joined Arsenal in 2020, in a transfer worth £45 million (€50 million), becoming the most expensive Ghanaian player of all time.
| Thomas Partey 24/25 season stats | Value |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Shots on target | 7 |
| Pass accuracy | 88.9% |
| Chances created | 17 |
| Successful dribbles | 18 |
And since his arrival, this is looking to be his strongest season so far.
Having amassed 30 Premier League appearanes so far for Arsenal, with him looking to beat his record from the 22/23 season.
He has scored 4 goals and provided 2 assits also.
He also made 10 Champions League appearances this term, with a UCL goal for Arsenal still to come, but has provided 1 assist so far.
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