Fakayejo Paul
Arsenal’s Champions League ambitions have hit a creative roadblock as manager Mikel Arteta confirmed that captain Martin Ødegaard will not be available for tomorrow’s Round of 16 first leg against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Norwegian playmaker has been struggling with a persistent knee injury that has seen him miss seven of Arsenal’s last nine matches across all competitions.
While there were hopes he might feature in the trip to the BayArena, he was noticeably absent from Tuesday’s final training session at London Colney.
Arteta’s Tactical Headache
Ødegaard’s absence leaves a significant void in the “Gunners'” engine room. As the team’s primary creative hub, his ability to link play between the midfield and the front three has been a hallmark of Arsenal’s flawless European campaign so far—where they topped the league phase with eight wins from eight.
With the captain sidelined, Arteta is expected to turn to Kai Havertz or the resurgent Eberechi Eze to occupy the ‘number 10’ role. The manager addressed the situation in his pre-match press conference:
“Martin is still not quite where he needs to be. It’s a frustrating one for him and for us, but we have to be patient. We have a squad with immense quality, and others will need to step up in his place tomorrow night.”