Cesc Fabregas is set to lead Arsenal in Tuesday night’sChampions League showdown against Barcelona but Arsene Wenger will wait until the last minute before deciding whether to gamble on the fitness of Robin van Persie.
The Arsenal manager suggested on Monday night in his final media briefing before the quarter-final second leg that the best the Dutchman could hope for was a place among the seven substitutes.
Wenger is reluctant to throw the notoriously fragile Van Persie into the fray against the three-times European Cup winners only nine days after he sustained a knee ligament injury that was initially estimated to keep him out for up to six weeks.
But after signalling his intent to pitch Fabregas into the starting XI following a two-week lay-off with a hamstring strain, Wenger is seriously considering doing the same with van Persie.
“He’s here as a player who will have a test,” said Wenger. “I personally would like him to play but he has to be 100 per cent. He’s made quick progress in the last few days. When I spoke [on Monday morning] it was unlikely he would travel. But he was keen to have a go.
“I’m very bad at mind games. It’s no mind game. We will see [on Tuesday] when the medical staff check with him.
“There are two kinds of problem. Fabregas was muscular, Van Persie is a ligament. With muscle problems there are more risks. With Van Persie it’s just a case of if he feels fit to play or not. There’s no chance of a recurrence.”
Even if Van Persie suffers no ill effects from Monday's session in the build-up to Tuesday night’s game, such a swift comeback would represent a risk on the part of the Arsenal manager, who told the English media on Monday morning that the 27-year-old was out injured only hours before he joined his team-mates in the 19-man squad that boarded a charter flight to Spain.
It was widely assumed to be a move designed to upset Barcelona’s planning and provide a boost to Arsenal’s squad following a testing week but Van Persie emerged unscathed from a private training session on Monday with fitness coach Tony Holbert and has told Wenger that he feels ready to play.
If the Dutchman does make a miracle recovery, he will be joined by Fabregas, who returned to training at the end of last week and is confident he will last 90 minutes against his former club. The Spaniard has not played since limping out of Arsenal’s 1-0 Premier League win over Stoke City a fortnight ago with a hamstring injury.
“My fitness is good - for the last six days I haven’t felt anything,” Fabregas said on Monday. “It was a very small thing I had. The problem is muscular. In the last few weeks I suffered a little because I didn’t know if I would be able to play.”
Arsenal will take a slender 2-1 lead into Tuesday night's clash following their stirring fightback at the Emirates Stadium.
Despite the personal significance of the occasion for Fabregas, who will play his first competitive game at the Nou Camp, the Gunners skipper insists victory is the only thing on his mind.
“I am not here to shut up comments or to beat anyone specifically or whatever. I am just here to win for Arsenal Football Club,” he said.
“For all my connections with Barca, tonight is all about Arsenal. All I will be concentrating on is how to help Arsenal through to the quarter-finals. It is something that I want as badly as any Arsenal fan.
“It is about us proving that we have what it takes to beat the best of the best. Sometimes I don't understand these reactions or comments about people saying I want this or I feel this. I want to win for Arsenal and that's it. That's easy for me.
“I don't put anything extra in my head because I play against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. It is a special game for everyone because it is a special stadium and we play against a good team and that's it. It's one more game that we want to win.
“We want to do well for the club and we want to get through to the next stage of the Champions League.
“There is nothing more to it than that - we just want to go through and get to the quarter-final.”
Wenger’s other selectorial dilemmas centre on who will partner Jack Wilshere in central midfield in place of the injured Alex Song. Denilson is likely to get the nod over Abou Diaby, while Andrey Arshavin is expected to be preferred to Emmanuel Eboue.
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