Laurent Koscielny faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after tearing his achilles tendon during the early minutes of Arsenal’s Europa League semi-final second leg with Atletico Madrid.
With the scores goalless at the time, Koscielny fell to the floor immediately clutching his right achilles. Clearly in a lot of pain, Diego Costa instantly signalled for play to be stopped.
https://twitter.com/Destaquito2/status/992120709760602112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fdiego-costa-consoles-laurent-koscielny-as-hes-stretchered-off-in-agony-against-atletico-madrid-176654&tfw_creator=smnllyd5&tfw_site=JOE_co_uk
After receiving treatment on the pitch for five minutes, the defender was stretchered off.
Jake Humphrey, hosting BT Sport’s coverage of the game, was one of those to confirm the extent of the injury during half-time, also adding that the 32-year-old was expected to be out of action for six months.
Confirmed torn Achilles for #Koscielny. 6 months expected recovery time…poor guy
— Jake Humphrey (@mrjakehumphrey) May 3, 2018
Not only did the injury come as a blow to Arsenal’s hopes of reaching the Europa League final in Lyon later this month, it also ruled Koscielny out of the French World Cup squad.
Arsenal kept Atleti out until first half stoppage time, when former Chelsea striker opened the scoring on the night, giving Diego Simeone’s men a 2-1 lead on aggregate.
