adminLONDON. — Laurent Koscielny has handed Arsene Wenger a major boost after recovering from an eye injury on the eve of Arsenal’s Champions League opener against Paris Saint-Germain.
Koscielny was a major doubt for tonight’s match at the Parc des Princes after being kicked in the face during the final stages of Saturday’s 2-1 win over Southampton at the Emirates.
However, the France international defender appeared to have fully recovered from that knock yesterday, and trained as normal with the rest of Wenger’s squad ahead of the trip to Paris. Koscielny’s return averts a major selection headache for the Gunners, who are already without injured centre-backs Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista.
And the 31-year-old Koscielny, who scored an acrobatic overhead kick against the Saints, was all smiles as he trained alongside new defensive partner Shkodran Mustafi.
Wenger also appeared in high spirits ahead of what will be his 17th consecutive season in European football’s top competition.
Arsenal’s long-serving manager will feel at home when he takes his team to the Parc des Princes for tonight’s Champions League opening Group A match against Paris St Germain.
A regular visitor to the French capital, the Strasbourg-born Wenger has often been linked in the past with an executive role at PSG when he finally leaves Arsenal, the club he joined in 1996. Since then the London side have qualified for the Champions League in every full season of his management.
For the last 16 years in succession they have reached the second stage of the competition, only to suffer the frustration of defeat in the first knock-out round for six seasons in a row.
Along with PSG, they must be regarded as favourites to qualify again from a group also including Basel and Bulgarian side Ludogorets. — Reuters.
Online Reporter