LONDON - Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas and fullback Emmanuel Eboue are doubtful for their Champions League quarter-final, second leg against Juventus in Turin, after suffering injuries against Aston Villa yesterday.
"The negative side of the game today is that we got two injuries that we wouldn't want to have at
the moment," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after watching his team thrash Villa 5-0 at Highbury in the Premier League.
"First is Eboue with a groin problem. The second is Fabregas with a foot problem. Both are 40-60 for Wednesday night."
Exciting Spanish teenager Fabregas lasted 16 minutes before being replaced by Abou Diaby, who went on to score his first goal for the club, while Ivory Coast international Eboue went off after 67 minutes.
"His [Fabregas'] foot has blown up. That's not a good sign. It can be a vein that has exploded or it's coming from a bone we don't know.
Eboue did his groin because he played like [former Brazilian great] Garrincha on the right side and didn't stop going forward."
Arsenal hold a 2-0 lead over Italian champions Juventus as they bid to reach their first Champions League semifinals, where they would face either Inter Milan or Villarreal.
Wenger said he was confident that Thierry Henry, who scored twice in yesterday's win to narrow the gap with fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur to two points, would stay at Arsenal. His contract expires at the end of next season.
Asked if the France striker was irreplaceable, Wenger said: "In the sense that if you ask me to buy another one I have a problem. He's the best. When you have the best, why replace him?
"I'm still 100 per cent confident he'll stay."
- REUTERS
