Arsenal squad confirmed for Atletico Madrid match as three injured stars miss out

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Arsenal squad confirmed for Atletico Madrid match as three injured stars miss out

Arsenal are in Madrid gearing up for tonight's Champions League semi-final first-leg clash against Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano

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Arsenal are relishing the chance to take a big step towards their first Champions League final since 2006 this evening when they collide with Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital.

Mikel Arteta's men are set to play their second consecutive European semi-final but this time around, they're hoping for a happy ending after being eliminated by PSG at this stage last season.

The Spaniard is without three injured players after confirming during a confusing press conference that right-back Jurrien Timber will not be in the squad.

Kai Havertz, who was forced off with a muscular issue on Saturday versus Newcastle, has also missed out while the tie comes too soon for recovering midfielder Mikel Merino, who has not played since January following a foot fracture that required surgery.

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Three goalkeepers have travelled with the group in No.1 David Raya, Kepa Arrizabalaga and youngster Tommy Setford.

Where defenders are concerned, teenage centre-back Marli Salmon boarded the flight, joining William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

In midfield, captain Martin Odegaard is with the squad after speaking at last night's press conference at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Christian Norgaard has also made the trip with Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze, who could start out wide after shaking off his injury scare against Newcastle.

Arteta is also stacked with options in attack as 16-year-old gem Max Dowman, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus have all travelled.

Gyokeres and Jesus are both pushing to start in the absence of Havertz, though the Swede is the heavy favourite to lead the line against Arsenal's La Liga opponents.

In total, 23 players are believed to have travelled and that means one player is likely to be left out of the squad.

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On Saturday against Newcastle, Calafiori and Norgaard were both left out of the fold by Arteta despite their arrival with the group at the Emirates Stadium.

In the Premier League, a total of nine subs can be named on the bench but in the Champions League, the rules are different as you can name up to 11 substitutes.

Arsenal boss Arteta likes to use the term "finishers" for his substitutes and those that are not named in the starting XI this evening could still have a big role to play from the bench.

The Gunners will have home advantage in the second leg because they finished 1st in the league phase standings.

The eventual winners of the tie will face PSG or Bayern Munich (5-4 agg) in a showpiece final in Budapest on May 30.

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