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Arsene Wenger will have to make do without striker Olivier Giroud, after the club opted not to register the Frenchman for the Champions League group stages.
The striker, who suffered a broken foot at the end of August, was originally ruled out of action until the new year, prompting the Gunners to omit him from the first round of European squad registrations. But he made great strides in recovery, making his return to the first-team on the weekend.
To be fair to Arsenal, it is such a rare occurrence for a player to come back three months early from injury.
This will come as a blow to Arsenal, after Giroud marked his return with a thumping effort from outside the box to get a consolation goal in their defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates stadium on Saturday.
This blunder may not end up costing Arsenal much as the English side are currently 2nd in their group with 7 points, 5 points behind top placed Borussia Dortmund and lead 3rd placed Anderlecht by the same margin.
The Frenchman will be forced to watch from the stands as Arsenal bid to seal their place in the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League.
