Mikel Arteta has given an update on Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber ahead of our return match against Sporting CP.
The trio, along with Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori, missed our open training before facing the Portuguese champions, and during their press conference, Mikel spoke about our players.
“We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how some of the guys are doing and make the right decision with them,” he said.
When asked about Declan’s availability, he added: “We’ll have to wait and see how he is tomorrow, but he obviously wasn’t available to train.
“He has played a lot of games and that is part of the problem. But he will try to do everything possible to be with us tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Bukayo is yet to play for us since the international break, along with Jurrien, who came off during our 2-0 win over Everton last month.
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When asked if any of them could be available for the UCL second leg, he said: “Maybe one of them, let’s see.”
Regarding Bukayo’s injury, Mikel added: “It was something he had been carrying for a while. It was an Achilles tendon issue.”
Kai Havertz helped take the lead into the second leg with a dramatic late goal in Lisbon.
We are now aiming to reach consecutive UCL semi-finals for the first time in our history, but Mikel knows it will be a big test to overcome the Portuguese team.
He said: “I think they are always trying to be a very dominant team, through pressing, through the ball.
“The longer the game goes on, in relation to the context of the game, they will be able to get closer and respond like they have done in the league. As for the score, they will change it, we are prepared for that too and we will play with whatever is necessary to win the game.”
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