Arsenal handed huge Bukayo Saka injury boost with dream Champions League quarter-final scenario

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal will be hoping for a dream Bukayo Saka injury return scenario to play out in their pursuit of Champions League glory. The Gunners lost further ground in the Premier League title race this past weekend and as Liverpool are now 15 points ahead, Europe appears to be the priority.

Despite scoring just three goals in their last five domestic games, Arsenal scored seven in their last-16 first leg against PSV. Barring an unthinkable turnaround, a quarter-final tie against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid is on the horizon.

Gabriel Martinelli will almost certainly feature in those two games and the four fixtures before that after returning from a hamstring injury against Manchester United on Sunday. The Brazilian played the final 30 minutes at Old Trafford, but was unable to make a lasting impact with the game finishing level.

With their last-16 tie all but wrapped up, Arteta may not want to risk him and instead hand him a first start in over a month when Chelsea make the trip to Emirates Stadium this weekend. Ben White is one player that could feature from the off on Wednesday evening having played just 22 minutes since his own return from injury last month.

Saka is another that Arteta will be wanting available for selection sooner rather than later. The Arsenal boss admitted recently he was just behind Martinelli in terms of a return and using that prediction, the 23-year-old cannot be far behind.

"With Gabi it was a bit different the kind of injury that he had," he admitted in a press conference after Martinelli's cameo off the bench. "And we talked, I think last week, that he was much closer than B. After the international break let’s see where he (Saka) is.

"His progress is really good, he is really willing - as you can all imagine - so we are positive that in a few weeks hopefully he will be back." As Saka has been out for several months, he will require several sessions at London Colney to get fully back up to speed.

According to the Athletic, Saka is expected to return to full training within the next month. That return timeline suggests he may not quite be ready for their Champions League quarter-final first leg on either Tuesday, April 8 or Wednesday April 9.

With that game in north London, Arsenal may be able to cope without their talisman before then handing him some minutes off the bench that weekend at home to Brentford. If all goes well from there, a start in Spain either against Atletico or Real Madrid just a few days later is a real possibility.

While the dream scenario may be to have him back for the first leg, Arteta would likely much rather ensure he is fully fit to start in that second leg with the hope being they are either in front or still firmly in the tie.

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Arsenal face PSV Eindhoven in the- second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on March 12.

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