Roma suffer injury blow ahead of crunch Europa Conference League semi-final vs Leicester City

AS Roma will reportedly be without midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the second leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final against Leicester City.

City travel to Rome on Thursday night with the tie in the balance after the first leg at the King Power Stadium. The scores remain level after the first 90 minutes with City drawing level in the second half as Gianluca Mancini put the ball in his own net under pressure from Ademola Lookman.

It means that who will be playing in the final of the competition on May 25 will be decided in a 90-minute showdown in Rome, in front of a crowd of around 70,000. The winners will take on either Marseille or Feyenoord, with the Dutch side currently 3-2 ahead after the first leg.

Reports in Italy now claim that former Arsenal man Mkhitaryan will miss the return leg vs City through injury. The 33-year-old started the first leg, but was forced off the field just before the hour mark.

According to Calciomercato , the midfielder is set to be out of action for 15-20 days, meaning that he won’t be available for selection for the second leg. The report claims that Mkhitaryan has suffered a ‘suspected muscle strain’ and will ‘certainly’ miss both the weekend’s Serie A clash vs Bologna and the visit of City.

The midfielder has played a total of 43 games in all competitions this season, scoring five goals and providing a further nine assists. He has been with Roma since joining from Arsenal in the summer of 2020.

He is one of a number of former Premier League players in Jose Mourinho’s side. Chris Smalling and Tammy Abraham also started the first leg against City, while former Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Veretout also came on as a second-half substitute.