Mikel Arteta insists that Arsenal’s second-half substitutions against Bayer Leverkusen were not made with the Carabao Cup final in mind.
The Gunners boss made a very rare quadruple change with just over 20 minutes to play in Tuesday night’s Champions League last-16 second-leg tie in north London.
Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Norgaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz were all introduced as Ben White, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Eberechi Eze made way.
Viktor Gyokeres was also replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly in stoppage time at the Emirates Stadium.
With his side leading 2-0 on the night thanks to superb goals from Eze and Declan Rice, and 3-1 on aggregate, most assumed that those changes were part of a plan of rotation ahead of Sunday’s Wembley showdown against Premier League title rivals Manchester City.
However, Arteta said afterwards that his personnel decisions were solely about the game against Leverkusen and made simply based on who needed to come off at the time.
Asked if such rotation was part of his plan before the final, the Arsenal manager told TNT Sports: “No, it was related to the game and some players that needed to come off basically, because of the amount of minutes they are playing.
“Now we can focus on the final.”
Eze briefly received treatment before his withdrawal following a terrific performance against Leverkusen, but quickly allayed any fears over an injury ahead of the Carabao Cup showpiece.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said to TNT. “I’ll be okay.”
Arteta is hoping that Jurrien Timber and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will prove their fitness ahead of the trip to Wembley, after both players were ruled out of the second leg against Leverkusen.
However, Mikel Merino remains a long-term absentee after undergoing surgery on a rare and serious foot injury last month.
