Mikel Arteta provides injury update on Arsenal duo and hails ‘magic’ Rice after thrashing Real Madrid | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says he does not think the injuries suffered by Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka in the win over Real Madrid are serious.

Rice scored two incredible free-kicks as the Gunners thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium to take a huge advantage to the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg.

He was forced off before the end of the game, however, after picking up a knock to his foot.

Bukayo Saka, meanwhile, made his first start since returning from three months out with a hamstring injury and played a key part in the victory, including winning the free-kick from which Rice opened the scoring.

He had made just two appearances off the bench since returning from injury heading into this game, and was also taken off shortly before Rice was replaced after suffering a knock to the ankle.

But Arteta was not overly concerned with the injuries to the pair.

“I think Dec had an issue with the foot, I’m not sure if it was a tackle or what it was and after Bukayo got tackled for the foul, he had a knock and he had to go off,” Arteta said.

Asked if they were anything serious, Arteta responded: “It doesn’t look serious, no.”

Mikel Merino added a third for Arsenal after Rice’s double to give them a significant second-leg advantage and afterwards Arteta paid tribute to the Gunners fans for the atmosphere they created while praising man of the match Rice.

“This night is about two factors,” he said.

“One is about the atmosphere we created. 15 minutes before kick-off it was already something I hadn’t seen before, playing with that energy and that commitment where your crowd makes a huge difference.

“And then magic moments, individual moments that decide football matches and the first two goals of Declan just sum up the night.

“To score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude, of that quality, from the same player and a player who has never scored a free-kick before in his career, I mean, what are the odds?

“But he’s done it tonight an I’m a big believer in the crowd made something (different) with the energy they put in and it helped us massively to win the game.”