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Bukayo Saka injury update after Arsenal’s Champions League victory v Real Madrid
'I think it was a kick.'
Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on Bukayo Saka after Arsenal’s 3-0 Champions League win over Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Saka looked hurt and appeared to somewhat limp off in the 74th minute of the first-leg showdown against the Spanish champions at the Emirates.
The England international was making his first start since December after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Arsenal manager was quizzed about Saka after the match and confirmed that the 23-year-old was ‘fine’ despite being kicked during the second half.
‘He’s fine,’ Arteta told Amazon Prime. ‘I think it was a kick.’
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The Arsenal manager was asked about Saka’s fitness again in his post-match press conference and also gave an update on Declan Rice.
‘Declan had an issue with his foot, I don’t know if it was a tackle,’ Arteta said. ‘With Bukayo, after he got tackled, he got a knock and he had to go… It doesn’t look serious.’
Before he suffered the knock, Saka massively impressed on his injury return for Arsenal and caused Real Madrid all kinds of defensive problems.
‘He was key,’ Arteta added. ‘Again, he elevates the level of the team. There’s a fear factor every time he’s on the ball. Teams step off him and that creates space.’
Alan Shearer, who was on commentary duties for Amazon Prime, claimed Real Madrid defender David Alaba ‘didn’t have a clue’ how to handle Saka.
During the match, Shearer said: ‘Bukayo Saka is causing all sorts of problems. David Alaba doesn’t have a clue if he’s going to cut in on his left or go down the outside of his right.
‘That’s all you can do as a winger. Your job isn’t always to pick a player out, it’s just to put a ball into the middle.’
Meanwhile, Arteta was left delighted with his team’s overall performance against Real Madrid and Rice’s two world-class goals from free-kicks.
‘So happy, so proud of the team,’ Arteta added. ‘We have the opportunity to make a lot of people proud and we certainly have done that.
‘I’ve never seen the stadium like this. Before the game they were already singing and already playing the game.
‘For big European nights you need the big stadiums that create atmosphere and you need individual magic moments and there you go.
‘That’s the beauty of whoever invented this sport. We hadn’t scored a free-kick since September, 2021.
‘And tonight, against Real Madrid at home in the Champions League, we scored two in 13 minutes.’
