Arsenal may have to face Real Madrid without defensive pair Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber as injury forced the pair off the pitch against Fulham on Tuesday night.
The Brazilian centre-back grabbed his leg while running back before falling to the floor with a hamstring issue. He was replaced by Jakub Kiwior in the 16th minute.
Timber took a knock to his knee in the first half, but managed to play on until the 77th minute when he was subbed off for Leandro Trossard.
Arsenal host Real in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in a week’s time, but could be very light on defensive options. Riccardo Calafiori sustained an injury over the international break, Takehiro Tomiyasu is out for the rest of the year, and Ben White missed the Fulham game with a niggle.
Arsenal dealt double injury worry ahead of Real Madrid clash
Speaking about the Gunners’ latest injury woes in his post-match press conference Arteta admitted “we don’t know how they’re going to be”.
“They are two players in this team who never want to come off,” the Basque native said. “We lose four players in four days in the week. We have another four who are very willing.”
Declan Rice told Sky Sports after the final whistle that Gabriel is too important a player for Arsenal to miss out on arguably their most important match of the season.
“I don’t know what’s happened, I hope he’s okay because he’s been arguably our best player this season and we need him for big matches and big occasions,” the England midfielder said.
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Despite a late goal from substitute Rodrigo Muniz, Arsenal overcame the loss of Gabriel and Timber to beat the Cottagers 2-1 at home and close the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to nine points.
The north London outfit were at least boosted by the return of Bukayo Saka, who had been sidelined by a hamstring injury since December. The winger entered the pitch to a huge ovation from the home crowd in the second half and marked his return with a goal just seven minutes after his introduction.
“A beautiful moment to see how much our people love and respect Bukayo,” Arteta said. “The best result is the reaction and he goes and says thank you to the sports science guys.”
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