12 players to miss Arsenal vs Real Madrid as Mikel Arteta suffers injury crisis

Arsenal and Real Madrid will both be missing six players when they clash at the Emirates, with both sides hoping to reach the semi-finals of this year’s Champions League

Arsenal and Real Madrid will both be missing a raft of key players when they meet in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash. Both sides are heading into the game after disappointing results at the weekend.

Arsenal dropped points against Everton on Saturday, while Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Valencia that same day. However, neither side suffered any further injury blows which both Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti will be thankful for.

Arsenal will be without five players due to injury, while on-loan winger Raheem Sterling is suspended after picking up his third booking of the campaign against PSV Eindhoven.

Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have been ruled out for the rest of the season with knee and hamstring injuries. Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu also have knee issues, while Gabriel Magalhaes suffered a hamstring injury earlier this month.

Ben White should be fine to start after managing 60 minutes against Everton, while Bukayo Saka is in line to make his first start since returning from a hamstring injury.

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“We have another training session this afternoon, but Ben finished the game,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference. “We had to stop him over time because he hasn’t played much football, but he was fine after the game.

“And with the rest, they went through the game and they were able to do some bits yesterday and ready to train today. He [Saka] is in a much better place.

“Gradually, we have built his minutes in the last six or seven days. He’s coped with that really well and he’s in a good place to be able to be used.”

Madrid, meanwhile, will be without the likes of Dani Carvajal, Dani Ceballos, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy due to injuries and Aurelien Tchouameni is suspended for the clash. Third-choice goalkeeper Fran Gonzalez made his debut at the weekend with both Thibaut Courtois and Andriy Lunin also injured.

However, Courtois is set to return to the starting XI against Arsenal after Madrid named him in their travelling squad on Monday. “I am fully fit,” Coourtois declared ahead of the game.

“If I am going to start or not, you have to ask the manager! But I am fit and I feel good. It was not a big issue, so I could train in the gym and do my routines.

“I have been on the pitch for the last day, so I feel fine and 100 per cent – and hopefully I am ready to help the team tomorrow. I had a couple of injuries at the start of the season, but I think maybe I came back too early.

“I have been training, training well, I am in good shape. This was just a niggle and we did not want to take any risks, so we decided I would rest at the weekend and not play on Saturday.”

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