CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL FIRST LEG:ARSENAL ARE confident Cesc Fabregas will be available to confront his former club, Barcelona, in the Champions League quarter-final tomorrow after a scan revealed the Spain international had not suffered any serious damage to his right leg.
Fabregas was kicked just below his right knee by Craig Gardner during Saturday’s potentially damaging Premier League 1-1 draw with Birmingham City and, although he finished the match at St Andrew’s, Arsene Wenger had expressed doubt as to whether the 22-year-old would be fit enough to feature. But a scan on the knock allayed some of those fears and the club’s medical staff hope now to give the midfielder the green light to resume full training.
The player underwent treatment for the severe bruising sustained to the joint and his leg yesterday and a final decision will be made after the team’s training session this morning.
Wenger will also assess Abou Diaby, who picked up a knock at Birmingham, but will be relieved that Andrey Arshavin (knee) and Samir Nasri (groin) should be fit for the critical first leg against the reigning European champions. The latter pair started on the bench on Saturday but reported no ill-effects from their cameo appearances.
Yet it is Fabregas’s involvement that is key. Barcelona have earmarked the Arsenal captain as the team’s most creative talent and the midfielder has 18 goals to his name this season. “I believe he is more relaxed,” Wenger said of Fabregas. “There is less tension in his finishing. You feel that before he wanted to force the chance and now he is more relaxed.
“He has gained more physical power. You can see he resists much more the runs of his opponents and he is more powerful in his runs. These two ingredients make a big difference. But I believe the change in formation has had an impact as well. He has more freedom to join in now.”
The Spanish champions arrive in London today without the injured Andres Iniesta, who tweaked his hamstring during Saturday’s victory over Real Mallorca, but with Eric Abidal in their number. The France international defender has been troubled by a thigh injury since the beginning of February but was able to train yesterday and was included in Pep Guardiola’s 20-man squad.
The central defender Gerard Pique, formerly of Manchester United, had been training on his own as he recovered from a knee injury but was also included in the party.
Guardiola insisted his side will be intent upon securing an away goal at the very least from the first game at the Emirates. “Since I took the job our play has been marked by brave, attacking football,” he said. “Win or lose, I want us to show who we are and what kind of football we believe in. I want my team to go out and be themselves. Those of us lucky enough to work at this level in our profession must never forget that it’s only a sport.
“We live in a world where everything is spiralling in cost and many people need to make a big sacrifice in order to go and watch a game of football. So for me it all makes sense, the effort, the work, the planning, the concentration and the discipline, if you do it for the people.
“The manner in which we play is a demonstration of the respect we have for the people who pay for a ticket or pay money to watch matches on television.”
- Guardian Service
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