There were plenty of positives, from an Arsenal fan’s point of view, when the Gunners took on CSKA Moscow in the home leg of the Europa League quarter-finals this week, not least of which was the 4-1 result which barring a disaster in Russia next week will see Arsenal in the draw for the semi-finals.
The one big negative, however, was the sight of Henrikh Mkhitaryan having to be subbed off in the second half, indicating as he left the field of play that it was a groin problem that he had picked up. As reported by Metro, this problem could keep our Armenian international out of action for some time, with Arsene Wenger admitting that he was very concerned.
On Friday the manager said, ‘He has a scan this afternoon but his medial ligament is touched so he will not be available for Sunday.
‘He will not play. For how long he will be out we will know that after the scan.
‘But the first impression is not too positive today.
‘I fear [it could be several weeks] and I hope I’m wrong.’
Whikle he would prefer to have Mkhi available for the Premier League games, I do not think Le Prof is too worried about that, as the next three EPL games for Arsenal are against Southampton, Newcastle and West Ham and we also have Aubameyang able to play and a strong and fit squad of players.
It is the Europa League, which the Gabon striker is not allowed to playin, that surely concerns Wenger. We could really do with Mkhitaryan for those games, especially as he seems to produce his best on the European stage. The first leg of the semi-final comes in just under three weeks so there is a decent chance the Armenian could recover. Do you think that out cjhances of success could depend on whether he is fit to play or not?
Bob.