Arsenal striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 makes shock return for game against Barcelona
Following Robin van Persie’s injury, Arsenal’s strike-force looked increasingly ordinary compared to the Barcelona front three. However, it appears that the Gunners have kept a very good poker face leading up to the Champions League clash on Tuesday.
The Arsenal number 10 had been sidelined out of the 2nd leg against the Catalans after injuring his knee while scoring in the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City last month. Van Persie has easily been Arsenal’s most consistent player since
making his return from injury in August last year. The Dutchman has been scoring at will and troubling defenses with his movement.
While the Gunners found themselves 2-1 up, heading into round 2 against Barcelona, it looked an uphill task to grind out a result against La Liga leaders without their in-form striker.
However, according to pictures released on Arsenal.com, the club’s official website, Van Persie has been seen participating in full training. Evidence of his fitness has further been confirmed following his inclusion in the Arsenal squad for the mid-week
Champion’s League game.
The striker returned back to Netherland for treatment on the injured knee which kept him out of the Gunner’s Premier League tie against Sunderland which ended in a score-less draw. The initial diagnosis wasn’t at all encouraging as the Arsenal manager expected
his first choice front-man to be sidelined till the international break at the end of this month.
Speaking after the Carling Cup final, Wenger said, "I am not a specialist but he overstretched his knee at the back when he made the volley [to score against Birmingham]. It is a ligament at the back of the knee, a tear in the ligament. It is three to four
weeks, I take the short delay because I am an optimist but it could be four."
Usually, ligament injuries take a lot longer to heal than a usual twist of the knee or a pulling of a hamstring. However, Van Persie’s name has been added to the 19-man squad which will further be cut down to 18 ahead of Tuesday’s game at Camp Nou.
Whether van Persie is actually 100 percent fit, was never badly injured to begin with or is it just part of an elaborate double bluff to offset the opponent remains to be seen.
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