Arsenal have been dealt a significant blow ahead of their Champions League semi-final clash with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.
The tie is level at 1-1 after an enthralling first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano last week. Viktor Gyokeres’ emphatic penalty opened the scoring before Julian Alvarez drew the game level with his own nicely converted spot-kick.
A spot in the final in Budapest is on the line, and thus, Arsenal will need every bit of help they can get against Diego Simeone’s men on Tuesday. Unfortunately for Mikel Arteta, neither Kai Havertz nor Martin Odegaard were spotted in training at London Colney on Monday morning.
It had been revealed that both players were in contention to feature in the European showdown, although their absence from training would suggest this is unlikely.
Last thing for today, Mikel is being fully transparent about Kai Havertz and Ødegaard pushing for Atleti.
— HandofArsenal (@HandofArsenal) May 2, 2026
Both are in contention – I will try to update you closer to the game. We need everyone. Every starter every sub.
Dressing room blown away by the home support. Incroyable.
Havertz was forced off the pitch against Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago and hasn’t featured since. The German has endured a stop-start season, making just 20 appearances across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Odegaard limped off mid-way through the second half at the Wanda Metropolitano last week. The Norwegian then missed Saturday’s game against Fulham, although Mikel Arteta revealed before that clash that the playmaker was in contention.
Arteta should be able to provide more clarity in his press conference on Monday evening.
🚨 Kai Havertz & Martin Ødegaard are NOT in full first-team Arsenal training today, despite Mikel Arteta previously thinking both of them could be available to face Atletico Madrid tomorrow. ❌
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) May 4, 2026
Jurrien Timber & Mikel Merino are also not in attendance. 🤕 pic.twitter.com/Vh4XF2TeZj
Atletico Madrid team news ahead of Champions League semi-final
Arsenal may feel their injury concerns are potentially detrimental to the end of their campaign, although Atletico arguably have it worse. The Spanish team have a number of players who may miss out due to slight knocks.
Julian Alvarez has travelled with Diego Simeone’s squad, despite coming off with an injury in the first leg and missing the weekend’s game against Valencia. The Argentine might feature at the Emirates, although it’s plausible that he’s not quite at his fittest level and doesn’t last 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, Giuliano Simeone and Alexander Sorloth, both of whom were deemed doubts for the encounter in N5, have also both travelled to North London.
Make ten men feel like a hundred ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/jXYh0ty6dh
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 4, 2026
Jose Gimenez and David Hancho have also made the trip, while Pablo Barrios and Nico Gonzalez miss out through injury.
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