Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has not ruled out the possibility of injured Gabriel Martinelli participating against Porto in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow, Tuesday, despite the Brazilian forward missing training due to his injury. Martinelli missed Arsenal's 2-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday after being substituted in the 6-0 victory against Sheffield United the previous Monday due to a foot injury.
Arteta told a press conference on Monday when asked about the team's news: "There aren’t many updates. We have 24 hours before the match; we are trying to prepare everyone for tomorrow's game. Takehiro Tomiyasu took part in the first part of training, and Martinelli did not train. We will see what happens."
Japanese defender Tomiyasu, who has been absent from Arsenal since their 2-1 defeat to Fulham on New Year's Eve, participated in training on Monday. Gabriel Jesus, Thomas Partey, and Oleksandr Zinchenko also returned to training after missing the first leg.
Arsenal, who suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat in the first leg after Porto's Galeno scored a brilliant goal in stoppage time, hopes to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010. Arteta stated: "We will definitely have to adjust some things to achieve more than what we did in Porto and play in the Champions League. Qualification is based on the outcome of both matches, and we must do that tomorrow."
The Spanish coach emphasized the importance of crowd support in the stands during the match, adding that the atmosphere among the players is perfect.
