Cesc Fábregas has been ruled out for the rest of Arsenal's season with a cracked bone in his right leg, confirming his own fears after the Champions League tie against Barcelona, while Andrey Arshavin may face a similar fate. The Russia midfielder was forced off and, according to his mother, his calf muscle is torn and he might be "out until the end of the season" though the Arsenal website was more optimistic, saying he would be out for three weeks.
One crumb of comfort is that William Gallas, who also went off early with a calf injury and was initially ruled out for the season by the manager, Arsène Wenger, may yet return in three or four weeks. Given the niggling nature of Gallas's problem, though, it is wise to be cautious.
Fábregas had been determined to play in the first leg against Barcelona, his boyhood club, and Arsenal's medical team had given him the all-clear after the knock he took below the right knee during Saturday's match at Birmingham City.
It is understood, though, that the bruising Fábregas suffered did weaken the area and contributed to the injury. Fábregas was hurt when he tangled with the Barcelona captain, Carles Puyol, to win Arsenal's late penalty. Having taken the kick himself and scored his 19th goal of the season to make the score 2-2, he crumpled to the ground inside the centre circle.
The captain played on for the final minutes – despite hearing a crack on impact with Puyol, he was driven on by the adrenaline – but afterwards he said that he was "not good" and feared he had "broken something in the fibula".
His diagnosis proved correct. Although a post-match x-ray was inconclusive, further scans showed the fracture. "The club can confirm that Cesc has suffered a small crack in his right fibula," read a statement. "As a consequence, Cesc will miss the remainder of the domestic campaign as he will be out of action for at least six weeks."
Fábregas must hope that he can recover in time to play at the World Cup finals in South Africa; Spain's opening Group H match is against Switzerland on 16 June.
Arshavin's misfortune was revealed by his mother, Tatyana. "His injury is more serious than we all feared," she said. "I think he is out until the end of the season. The medic discovered that his calf muscle was torn. He is unlikely to be playing again soon and that is very sad.
"His aim was to play in the Champions League final and his dream of playing against his favourite team, Barcelona, at their Nou Camp stadium [in the second-leg next Tuesday] is going to remain just a dream now."
Wenger also reported that Gaël Clichy and Denílson were doubts for Saturday's game against Wolves with back and groin injuries respectively. "At the moment we are like an army who have come back from a big battle," he said. "We need to recover and then go to the next battle."
