David Ospina will miss the second leg of Arsenal’s Europa League quarter-final with CSKA Moscow and potentially the first match in any semi-final after suffering an ankle injury in training.
The Colombian goalkeeper was replaced by Petr Cech in the 4-1 win over the Russian side at the Emirates that has put Arsenal firmly on course for the last four after spraining his ankle in training.
Ospina has an agreement with Arsene Wenger whereby he starts in cup competitions for the Gunners whilst Cech starts in the league and faces a race against time to feature in the first leg of the semi-finals, scheduled for April 26, should Arsenal make it that far.
However Wenger revealed that the injury could have been far worse.
“The scan today was reassuring,” he said. “He will be out for two to three weeks. Yesterday we were scared for a very serious injury, but the scan was reassuring.
“He just moved back on a shot and sprained his ankle, without any contact. It was just a bad movement.”
Meanwhile Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set for a scan on the injured knee that forced him off early in the second half of the Gunners’ 4-1 win.
In Pictures | Arsenal vs CSKA Moscow | 05/04/2018
Mkhitaryan headed straight down the tunnel after being replaced by Alex Iwobi and is set to miss Sunday’s Premier League game at home to Southampton, though he may not have been required anyway having been rested for last week’s win over Stoke to keep him fresh for continental concerns.
“He has a knee problem,” Wenger confirmed. “We don’t know how bad it is, we have to assess it tomorrow morning.
“He will certainly be out for Sunday.”
