Gabriel Magalhães will miss the rest of the season, and Arsenal suffers other defensive blows

Arsenal has suffered two serious blows in one week: Gabriel Magalhães will be side-lined for the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury, while recovery time for Jurriën Timber is unknown after suffering a hit in his knee. And there are not the only injured players recently, as Ben White also got injured before the latest Arsenal match against Fulham and Riccardo Calafiori suffered an injure weeks earlier while playing with Italy for Nations League.

Four defenders out right before the crucial Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid, starting next Tuesday April 8 at the Emirates Stadium, and ending on Wednesday April 16 at the Santiago Bernabéu.

In particular, Gabriel Magalhães has been hit the hardest, as the injury he suffered on Tuesday required surgery, and now his only focus is to be ready for the start of the next season. And he is a vital part of the team: according to Premier League's stats, via BBC, Arsenal has won 63.5% of the games he has played since his debut, but has only won 40.9% of the 22 games he didn't play.

However, Mikel Arteta is also positive, as they have done a good season so far with a lot of injuries, and have recently recovered players like Martinelli, Saka, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Jesús.

In the domestic competition, Arsenal is consolidated in second place, eight points behind Liverpool, after a 2-1 win to Fulham with goals by Mikel Merino and Bukayu Saka, both improving before the Madrid fixture.