With Slavia Prague looking to reach a European semi-final for the first time since 1995-96 when they made it to the last four of the UEFA Cup before losing to Bordeaux, Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, must be full of worries over the fitness of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Martin Odegaard before their Europa League quarter-final second leg at Slavia Prague tonight.
Striker Aubameyang has been struggling with illness, while on-loan midfielder Odegaard has an ankle problem.
However, the Gunners have been boosted by the availability of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
The Gunners travel to Prague with the tie at 1-1 after Tomas Holes’ late equaliser at the Emirates last week.
With Arteta’s side ninth in the Premier League, winning the Europa League offers their best route back into Europe next season.
Aubameyang and Odegaard missed Tuesday’s training session. He is however waiting to see what becomes of them for tonight’s crucial game.
“I don’t know, we have to see how they are.
“We still have a couple of other ones as well from the last few days, so we’ll have to see how everybody is and after training how they react for the game.”
Defeat for Arsenal tonight would likely mean that next season is the club’s first without European football since 1995-96.
Arteta is aware his tenure, which is now 18 months old, will be judged on such results.
“Tangible is the right word and the only tangible thing is results,” he said. “Whether you’re doing a good job or not, to judge it externally is only going to be judged with results.
“Internally, you know what you are doing and you can have many different ways of judging that but at the end of the day, external results are the only important thing to give the perception that we are moving forward in the right direction.”
He also called on his players to step up and ensure Thursday’s second leg is not the end of their European campaign for this season and likely the next.
“We’ve shown that in big games, big players have to step in and create the magic moments and you need that, so let’s hope that we can have them,” he added.
“It doesn’t matter who it is but someone has to create when the team needs those moments.
“We have moments in the season where it has been the senior players and then other moments where it has been the young players.”
