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Thursday Kickoff: Fabregas fears broken leg, Rooney has minor damage and more

Cesc Fabregas (GettyImages)

Cesc Fabregas hit a crucial late late penalty kick to give Arsenal a 2-2 draw vs. FC Barcelona in Champions League action on Wednesday, but that could be the last contribution he gives the Gunners this season.

Fabregas limped off after the quarterfinal first-leg in London with what he is fearing is a broken leg. Fabregas suffered the injury on the play that drew a penalty on Carles Puyol and helped Arsenal salvage a draw in a match the Gunners were thoroughly dominated in.

As if the news wasn't bad enough for Arsenal, the English club could be set to miss Andrei Arshavin and William Gallas for extended time after both left Wednesday's match with injuries.

Barcelona will host the return leg next week.

Here are some other stories to get your Thursday going:

INTER EDGES CSKA MOSCOW

While most of the Champions League attention was aimed at the Arsenal-Barcelona match, Inter Milan was busy posting a vital 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow in Milan to send their quarterfinal series back to Moscow with a one-goal cushion and zero away goals conceded.

Diego Milito broke through in the 68th minute to spoil a standout performance by CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.

ROONEY HAS MINOR LIGAMENT DAMAGE

Any concerns about Wayne Rooney possibly having a more serious injury than first suspected were put to rest on Thursday after scans revealed that the England starhas minor ligament damage in his right ankle.

Manchester United would not put a timetable on Rooney's return, but he will miss United's crucial Premier League clash vs. Chelsea on Saturday, as well as the return leg of its UEFA Champions League quarterfinal series vs. Bayern Munich. Manchester United will post the second leg after suffering a 2-1 loss on Tuesday.

PUMAS WINS IN CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Pablo Barrera's goal proved to be the difference in UNAM Pumas' 1-0 win vs. Cruz Azul in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal series.

Cruz Azul will host the second leg on Tuesday. The winner of the series will face the winner of the Pachuca-Toluca semifinal.

BRAZILIAN CLUBS WIN IN LIBERTADORES

Cruzeiro and Internacional both posted victories in Copa Libertadores action on Wednesday to take first place in their respective groups.

Kleber scored twice to help Cruzeiro post a 3-0 victory against Velez Sarsfield, while Internacional downed Uruguayan club Cerro, 2-0. Cruzeiro's win moved the club ahead of Velez and into first place on goal difference.

Not all Brazilian clubs posted wins on Wednesday. Sao Paolo settled for a 0-0 tie at Monterrey, a result that means Once Caldas can clinch a place in the knockout round with a win today vs. Paraguayan club Nacional.

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What do you think of the news? Hoping Fabregas can still play in the World Cup? Think Inter Milan can win or draw in Moscow? Relieved Rooney doesn't have a worse injury?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. i heard somewhere that Barca will be without both Puyol and Pique in the next leg, Puyol because of the red but why Pique? yellow accumulation? i didnt see the game so im not sure, if thats the case arsenal has a better chance, but not having cesc is gonna hurt even with barca’s two centerbacks out

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  2. no way… wouldn’t that imply some incredible stunning victories next week? I don’t see what there’s to puke about.

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  3. I know NHL teams don’t have X-ray machines. If Cesc were on a team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, his status for the next match would be listed as “Probable, due to lower body injury.”

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  4. Most players exagerate their injuries as do the press. Don’t read too much if anything into it.

    Also an x-ray can be taken anytime even overnight but a radiologist has to look at the x-ray.

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  5. It was shocking to see Arsenal get thoroughly dominated like they did. But they managed to eke out a draw, but without three top players, getting any result at the Camp Nou is going to be very very tough.

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  6. Could this mean that another team will be the winners this year and not Barcelona ? Could this mean that Arsenal will beat Barcelona ? I cannot wait for the second leg !!!! 😀

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  7. Don’t they have x-ray machines in England? It’s been almost a full day since the injury, and all we know is that Fabregas “fears” he has a broken leg. Where did he get that prognosis? From a call to the Psychic Friends Network? Does he just think he can shake off the injury on his own and tell Wenger “I’m good!”?

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  8. The crazy thing is the Mexicans must have been freezing. On Tuesday I went for a run here and it was 63 degrees; the next day a few inches of snow on the ground. They missed the good weather by a day.

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  9. I think Fabregas played very good he was an unstoppable force for Arsenal. Alumnia played really good he was a very good shot stopper. That is the best I have ever seen Alumnia play. Arsenal was a little slow at the beginning of the match, but somehow managed to hang on. I am very surprised that Arsenal came back and started playing the way they did. At first I thought it was going to be an all Barcelona match, but boy was I wrong. The game was very entertaining. Fabregas did a good job at drawing the penalty. He was clearly fouled by Puyol and Arsenal deserved the equalizer.

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  10. I know right. I am a weather forecaster in the military so i Get geeked out about weather stuff. I looked up the obsvervation for SLC (they played at Rio Tinto stadium)and there was light snow and 33 degrees during game time. The first ever in snow for the USWNT in over 400 games played. I would like to put to rest the grumblings about MLS cup in Toronto. Man up people (Woman up, I guess). Aslo, Toronto is only 6 degrees colder than Seattle in November, climatologically speaking.

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  11. Even with Cesc Arsenal will not win the premier league simply because they have less talent then the other teams. Espicially when it comes to the bench.

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  12. Cesc Fabregas is evrything to the gunners, he passes and scores and also provides a bit of defense. If he leaves in the transfer window the gunners will have to find a replacement and fast.

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  13. Looking at the Arsenal injuries, Cesc is obviously a big loss. However, if the Gunners want to make a run at both the EPL and the Champs League (admittedly, both are a long shot), truth be told, both Arshavin and Gallas lack the toughness and are both defensive liabilities. As a Gunner fan, I don’t understand Wenger’s love of Gallas. He’s terrible on set pieces and has questionable character issues. Arsenal have become a much tougher team with an “over the hill” Sol as his replacement. In fact, Wenger, imo, screwed the pooch yesterday by not starting Sol. Then, putting Song back as a cent defender was shocking as his positional awareness is shotty at best. As for Arshavin, he has no defensive awareness whatsoever and was constantly too wide as Barca attacked.

    Arsenal will be a long shot at the Nou Camp. They need to stay more compact on defense (give up the wings), hold the ball up top (that’s you NB!!!), create havoc in the midfield with Denilson and Song (gotta play chippy) and look to break on the wings with speed behind the backs. Barca love to push forward with their wing backs and can be exposed. Arsenal needs to change their tactics slightly. They can get the result…again…it’s a long shot. Also, will Messi put in another poor performance? doubtful 🙁

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  14. I know it will get lost in all the CL talk, but did anyone watch the USWNT game in the snow last night? It was awesome. When is the last time you saw a team making snow angels for a goal celebration?

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  15. HaHa, I keep seeing those ads too! Google really does know what we like. Scary. Now if we can just start calling it football in america and change MLS to MLF!

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  16. I didn’t think the speed of Spain’s central defenders was a factor in the USA-Spain game, so much as two crucial mistakes by Pique and Ramos, plus our superior heading of Spain’s crosses. We had few chances in that game, but Jozy and Clint made them pay.

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  17. Wow, what a game between Barca and Arsenal. That first 20 minutes was a footballing clinic by Barca (crucially except for the finishing). And Arsenal’s spunk to come back… Barca’s (and Spain’s) achilles heal that can be exploited is the lack of pace of their defenders, especially their central defenders. Walcott exposed it as the U.S. did against Spain.

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  18. Ives, off topic, but why are there so many Cougar Life ads on this site? Is it your personal recommendation? 😉

    (SBI-Those are Google ads and as far as I know the ads via Google are generated to cater to the computer viewing them, so its sounds to me like Google things you’d be into Cougar Life. Are they wrong? LOL)

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