Arsenal boost as Henrikh Mkhitaryan returns to training on eve of Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid

James Benge2 May 2018

Arsenal have been handed a major boost ahead of the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid after Henrikh Mkhitaryan returned to training following a knee injury.

The Armenian playmaker had been Arsenal’s most pressing injury concern but is set to feature in the Wanda Metropolitana as the Gunners look to book their place in the final, a tough task after their 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Thursday.

Mkhitaryan missed most of April with the knee injury he suffered in the Europa League quarter-final first leg win over CSKA Moscow but made his return to the Arsenal line-up against his former club Manchester United on Sunday.

The 29-year-old proved a menace at Old Trafford, scoring Arsenal’s only goal in the 2-1 defeat, but was forced off after 76 minutes following a recurrence of the injury.

PA

David Ospina (rib) also joined training. Arsene Wenger is yet to confirm whether the Colombian or Petr Cech will start in goal, with the former having impressed in the first leg.

Meanwhile Atletico Madrid look set to unleash Diego Costa on Arsenal after the former Chelsea striker was left on the bench for the first leg due to a hamstring injury.

However Costa came through the 1-0 win at Alaves on Sunday, completing an hour, and played a full part in training on Tuesday.

In Pictures | Man Utd vs Arsenal | 29/04/2018

1/29

Costa is expected to replace Kevin Gameiro as Antoine Griezmann’s strike partner, though Diego Simeone faces a selection headache at right-back. Juanfran remains sidelined with a thigh injury whilst Sime Vrsaljko is suspended after his first leg red card. Spanish media report that midfielder Thomas Partey will be asked to fill in.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in