At a Glance:
- Arsenal could play Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
- The Gunners have to overcome Sporting CP, while the Spanish giants face Atletico Madrid.
- Barcelona have suffered a serious injury blow ahead of these ties.
While Arsenal have to navigate a Champions League quarter-final tie against Sporting CP in the coming weeks, Mikel Arteta’s side will no doubt have their eye on a potential semi-final match-up with Barcelona, who have just been dealt a significant blow.
The Gunners were handed a favourable knockout draw after finishing top of the League Phase, having won all eight of their matches. Arteta’s outfit comfortably overcame Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round, setting up a Viktor Gyokeres reunion match against Sporting in the last eight.
If they can knock the Portuguese giants out of the competition, then Barcelona or Atletico Madrid await the North Londoners. Given the pain the former club has inflicted on Arsenal over the years, most Gunners supporters will no doubt be hopeful that a clash with La Blaugrana is on the horizon, so that they can enact revenge.
Barcelona dealt injury blow ahead of Champions League quarter-final
Gabriel Martinelli started for Brazil on Thursday against France, in a game that validated the Gunners’ approach of withdrawing physically vulnerable players from their national teams. The Arsenal winger started on the left, dovetailing with Barcelona’s Raphinha on the right.
However, this rotation only lasted 45 minutes, as the former Leeds United man was forced off the pitch due to injury. Despite reportedly feeling discomfort before the game, Raphinha started the match before eventually succumbing to a hamstring problem.
Barcelona have now confirmed that the wide forward will miss around five weeks of action, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that the Catalan club are ‘furious’ about the injury. Hansi Flick will now have to cope without one of his star players during the run-in, all because Carlo Ancelotti and the Brazilian medical staff risked him for a friendly.
This five-week absence means Raphinha won’t be available for either leg of Barcelona’s tie against Atletico Madrid, while he’s also likely to miss the first leg of a potential semi-final against Arsenal or Sporting.
The Brazilian has scored 19 goals and provided seven assists across all competitions this season, and thus, his absence will be keenly felt by Flick’s side. Marcus Rashford is likely to step up and take his place on the left-side of Barcelona’s attack.
Raphinha injury validates Arsenal’s cautious international approach
Arsenal have now withdrawn ten players from international duty over the last seven days. Unsurprisingly, the Gunners have faced criticism for this ploy, with many accusing Arteta’s players of ‘faking’ injury so that they don’t have to play in friendlies and can rest before the domestic run-in.
However, Raphinha’s injury highlights exactly why the Gunners are right to have taken this precautionary approach. The 29-year-old will now miss a crucial period in Barcelona’s season, all because he tried to play through discomfort for the sake of a friendly.
Defender Piero Hincapie leaves the Ecuador camp and becomes the NINTH Arsenal player to withdraw from their international squad 👀🔴 pic.twitter.com/fir0RV6yhw
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 29, 2026
Almost all of the Arsenal players who have withdrawn from their national team squads on precautionary measures are almost guaranteed to be in their respective World Cup squads, and many of them are nailed-on starters. Thus, it would be reckless to risk their potential involvement in this tournament by playing them in a friendly when they’re in desperate need of a rest.
It’s likely that the Gunners and the national team coaches liaised with each other and collectively decided that these key players having no role in these exhibition matches was the correct course of action. Arsenal are competing on three fronts, so every one of their players has significant minutes left to play this season.
Thus, a two-week break gives them a chance to reset and will significantly increase their chances of being consistently available over the next three months.
