Will Bukayo Saka be fit to face Real Madrid? Arsenal star has ‘good chance’ of injury return after international break
03/20/2025 12:01 PM
Arsenal are hopeful that Bukayo Saka will be back in contention very soon ahead of a season-defining showdown against Real Madrid.
The England international suffered a horrible hamstring injury in late December and has been out since.
Since Saka was ruled out, the Gunners have crashed out of both domestic cup competitions and slipped well behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
The only trophy they have a realistic chance of winning is the Champions League, but they are going to play Real Madrid.
If Saka is fit, their chances of progress would drastically improve.
Will Saka be fit to face Real Madrid?
As it stands, it is looking likely Saka will be involved in some way.
Arsenal will play the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Los Blancos on April 8 at home before heading to the Bernabeu on April 16 for the return tie.
Mikel Arteta will hope to have Saka back and available, and judging by his latest comments, that is more than possible.
Speaking ahead of the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Chelsea, the Spaniard was asked if his star man would be fit after the international break.
He said: “Yes, he's got a good chance.
“He is going to be here [at the Arsenal training ground], hopefully more with [the] ball at his feet than he has had.
“That will mean he is passing the ball and shooting and running and everything. He has done quite a lot already on the pitch working on his own.
“Next, we need to arrange it with people around him in a more competitive training session and see how he goes with that.
“He's getting closer, he's stepping up and making a very good progress, I would say.
“So, let's see when we start to throw him in with the team how he reacts and how fit he can get quickly.”
Since having surgery to repair his hamstring, the road to recovery has been long for Saka.
He joined the rest of his teammates for their warm-weather training camp earlier this year.
However, Saka took no part in team training.
Instead, he was in the gym going through intense rehabilitation, and after three months out, he is nearing a return.
