Arsenal head into tomorrow’s second-leg quarterfinal of the UEFA Champions League in far from an ideal atmosphere. In the span of about twenty days, Mikel Arteta’s side has let two trophies slip away — they were eliminated by Southampton in the FA Cup, lost the EFL Cup Final, then suffered a very unpleasant defeat last weekend to Bournemouth — and on top of all that, the injury situation is far from ideal. What particularly worried the London club’s fans is the absence of one of their most important players — Declan Rice — from today’s training session, the last one before the match against the Portuguese side Sporting CP🗣️ Mikel Arteta: “Fire. I am on fire. I am dreaming so much, I have done so much to be in this position. I see beauty, opportunity, I want to get it done. I have zero fear. Purpose, fire, direction, conviction that we will do it.” 😤❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/gN4EZVYxTo— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) April 14, 2026 As per Sky Sports, Rice’s absence from training doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out for Sporting, but it is concerning given that this may be the most important week of Arsenal’s season. To recall, the Gunners have recently been without Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Riccardo Calafiori due to injuries. None of them were able to train at full intensity today. What may encourage Arteta is that Piero Hincapie and Eberechi Eze — who were only fit enough for the bench against Bournemouth — managed to cope with all the demands placed on them in today’s session.BETTING GUIDE: Liverpool vs Paris St Germain, match preview, team news and predictionArteta could somehow replace any of the aforementioned players — except Rice. That’s why there’s the most concern about his condition. Mikel Merino, Rice’s natural replacement in the defensive midfield role, has been out for a long time, so only remaining option is Christian Norgaard, who more often rotates with Martín Zubimendi, who plays a slightly more defensive role. Kai Havertz could drop into midfield, but that would make the setup too attacking, so Arteta ha some tactical thinking to do. All in all, Arsenal and Arteta are far from being in a comfortable situation, and the most important matches are just around the corner…“Declan has played a lot of matches this season. I have no doubt he will do everything in his power to be there at key moments,” the Spanish coach said at today’s press conference, somewhat calming the fans. After Sporting, Arsenal face two extremely difficult matches in the Premier League. On Sunday, they visit Manchester City, and the following weekend Newcastle United come to the Emirates.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – QUARTER FINALS Return legTuesday22.00: (3.75) Atl.Madrid (4.30) Barcelona (1.82) 22.00: (2.45) Liverpool (4.25) PSG (2.60) Wednesday22.00: (1.50) Arsenal (4.30) Sporting (7.75) 22.00: (1.60) Bayern (5.10) Real Madrid (4.85)***odds are subject to change***