Real Sociedad are set to take on Manchester United in the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie, but they will do so without the services of midfielder Arsen Zakharyan, who has been forced to drop out of Imanol Alguacil’s squad with just hours to go until kick-off at Old Trafford.
Zakharyan, who has missed the vast majority of the season because of injury, managed to recover in time to be named in the matchday squad for the trip to Manchester, but upon arrival at the airport in Madrid, he was not allowed to travel because of visa problems, as reported by El Diario Vasco. Because of this, he instead spent Wednesday night in Paris, and so did La Real teammate Hamari Traore, who had similar problems.
Traore’s issues were resolved on Thursday morning, but as per the report, Zakharyan has not been able to secure the necessary documents to travel to Manchester for the showdown clash. As a result, he has been forced to withdraw from the matchday squad, and he has still returned to Madrid. Upon the matter being finalised, his entourage thanked the attention and the efforts made by the club, but the procedures did not borne fruit in the end.
Zakharyan will stay in the Spanish capital to watch his teammates in action against Man United, with La Real travelling there tomorrow ahead of their La Liga clash against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, which the Russian midfielder will be available for.
Zakharyan would not have been a starter for La Real at Old Trafford, but it is still a blow for Imanol to be without his services for the second leg, which the Basque giants need to win if they are to reach the quarter-finals after last week’s 1-1 draw at the Reale Arena.
