Mikel Arteta’s injury nightmares might have become a reality in the March international break, with one key Arsenal star limping out of the stadium during Thursday’s international action. Arsenal may be all but out of the Premier League title race, but the Gunners are still fighting strong in the Champions League, with a quarter-final clash against Real Madrid on the horizon.
A whopping 12 points behind leaders Liverpool in the league table and having already been knocked out of the FA Cup, Arsenal’s only hopes of silverware are resting on their Champions League performance. They’ve been dealt a tall order with the reigning European champions set to come to town, but the capital club may have to do it without defender Riccardo Calafiori.
That’s after he was spotted limping out of San Siro on Thursday night following Italy’s Nations League defeat against Germany. Calafiori most likely picked up the knock during a bizarre second-half moment when it appeared the 22-year-old was wrong-footed by a pass and in an attempt to cut it out, went over on his right knee.
Luciano Spalletti was quizzed on the knock post-match, with the Italy boss replying: “We don’t know about Calafiori, his knee feels strange but he can’t answer the question of what he feels. I can’t quite figure it out at the moment, unfortunately, his stud came off while he was trying to get back on the pass.”
A home match against European-chasing Fulham is first up for Arsenal after the international break, with a trip to Goodison Park to play Everton proceeding the first leg of the Real Madrid tie. Should it prove to be a major issue for Calafiori, Arteta might be forced into a re-think over how he approaches the upcoming matches.
What's more, Arteta could end up echoing the words of former tutor Pep Guardiola, who earlier this season bemoaned the March international break, after Manchester City ace John Stones missed last year’s quarter-final against Real Madrid because of a knock he picked up on England duty. He said: “They should be more in contact with the doctors, with the national teams.
"Because when one player goes to the national team not in the perfect conditions… never ever in my life will I tell a player not to go to the national team.
"But if you are not fit, not good, you don’t end up playing with the national team. The subject is quite obvious, right? At the same time, I don’t want them to play there when they are not in the right condition.”