Arsenal handed major injury boost ahead of Sporting clash | Football

Arsenal have received a significant boost ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Sporting, with Gabriel Magalhaes pictured back in first-team training today.

Gabriel played the full 90 minutes of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City, but was forced off injured in the side’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Southampton.

The Brazil defender appeared in some discomfort as he left the field with a suspected knee problem, with William Saliba sent on in his place for the final 20 minutes at St Mary’s.

‘I think he felt something,’ Mikel Arteta told reporters when asked for an update on Gabriel’s condition after the Gunners’ elimination.

‘I don’t know exactly what it is. We’re going to have to assess him.

‘But obviously, when a player is asking to be substituted, it’s never good news.’

Just two days on, though, Gabriel was spotted training as usual with the rest of Arteta’s squad and the 28-year-old seemed in good spirits as he was put through his paces at London Colney.

Leandro Trossard was also pictured taking part in today’s open session having seemingly recovered from a groin problem which saw the Belgian miss Saturday’s trip to Southampton.

Another major boost for Arsenal came in the shape of Declan Rice, who looked to be training as normal after withdrawing from England’s recent friendly matches against Uruguay and Japan.

However, there remain question marks surrounding the fitness of Bukayo Saka (unspecified), Eberechi Eze (muscle), Jurrien Timber (groin) and Piero Hincapie (unspecified) ahead of Tuesday night’s contest in Lisbon.

Mikel Merino is still some way from his possible return after undergoing surgery on a foot injury he suffered in January.

Arteta is hoping to have as many of his key men back as possible ahead of a crucial period, with the club’s quadruple and treble hopes dead and buried after successive defeats in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

The Gunners will be looking to return to the form they showed in their last-16 second leg with Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates, where goals from Eze and Rice either side of half-time proved decisive.

Their quarter-final opponents, Sporting, had looked to be heading out of Europe’s premier competition after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.

But the Primeira Liga champions completed an incredible fightback in the second leg to win 5-3 on aggregate and advance through.

After a desperately disappointing few days for Arsenal, Arteta refused to use injuries as an excuse and called on his players to ‘look themselves in the mirror’.

‘I love my players. I’m not going to criticise them because we lost a game here in the manner that they tried,’ he said after their setback at Southampton.

‘And the way they are putting their bodies through everything. Some of them probably didn’t even have to be here today. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to defend them more than ever.’

The Spaniard added: ‘I don’t want to put any excuses around the players that are missing or the players that are here with issues.

‘Let’s look at ourselves in the mirror.

‘Accept the situation, reveal against it, and go again to Portugal with, again, freshness, with clarity and looking forward to it.’

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