Both Arsenal and Real Madrid will be without a host of key players for Wednesday’s tantalising Champions League quarter-final second leg. Arsenal have a healthy lead after trouncing their opponents 3-0 in north London last week but Real have a history of comebacks – especially at the Bernabeu.
Declan Rice scored two sublime free-kicks in the second half before Mikel Merino showed why he’s been chosen as Arsenal’s makeshift striker. Ancelotti, meanwhile, couldn’t find a formula to deal with his list of injuries.
Areta rested a total of five key players for their 1-1 draw at home to Brentford on Saturday which further dented their Premier League titles hopes. Jurrien Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Merino were all taken out of the starting XI, although each of them came on as second-half substitutes.
As for Real, Ancelotti made four changes for their hard-fought 1-0 win away to Deportivo Alaves. Star man Kylian Mbappe only played 38 minutes, as he was shown a straight red card for a nasty challenge on Antonio Blanco but he’ll only serve a one-game ban.
Arsenal flew to Spain on Tuesday with their depleted squad, as central defence and striker continue to be the areas most affected by injuries. Defenders Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu all haven’t travelled to Madrid.
Jorginho, who replaced Odegaard in the starting line-up on Saturday, suffered a knock and won’t feature. “Jorginho, unfortunately he’s not here after the incident of the weekend,” Arteta said. “He hasn’t recovered so our thoughts are with him.”
The good news for Arsenal is that both Thomas Partey and Ben White are in contention. Partey opened the scoring against Brentford but had to be subbed off in the 69th minute, having felt a problem.
“Yeah, he is available,” Arteta confirmed. “He had a little niggle during the game and that’s why he had to come off, but he felt good after the last few days so he’s fine.”
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As for White, the Gunners boss told reporters: “The positive one is that Ben White managed to train with us and he will be in the squad.”
Less fortunate are Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, who complete Arsenal’s six-man injury list. Jesus has been ruled out until the summer while Havertz is facing a race against time to be fit before the end of this season.
In the the home camp, Ancelotti has five absentees. Backup goalkeeper Andriy Lunin is out while defenders Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy remain on the sidelines.
Midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, whose goal secured the victory for Los Blancos on Sunday, is suspended after receiving a red card in the latter stages of the first leg.
Arsenal squad; Neto, Raya, Setford; Gabriel, Kacurri, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Saliba, Tierney, Timber, Zinchenko; Merino, Nwaneri, Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Martinelli, Sterling, Trossard
Real Madrid squad: Courtois, Gonzalez, Mestre; Alaba, Vazquez., Vallejo, Garcia, Rudiger, Asencio; Bellingham, Valverde, Modric, Tchouameni; Guler, Ceballos; Vinicius, Mbappe, Rodrygo, Endrick, Diaz
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