Unai Emery says why he subbed off Koscielny

Arsenal manager Unai Emery said that replacing Laurent Koscielny against BATE Borisov last night was a precautionary measure. The Arsenal captain started the match and walked off the field in the 56th minutes when Arsenal were leading 2-0. Sokratis Papastathopoulos replaced Koscielny and scored Arsenal’s third of the game.

Following the match, Emery said, “I think it’s precaution and we are going to wait for tomorrow. But, I hope he will be okay for Sunday and for the next week. It’s muscular, it’s not a break. But it was only precaution because he was starting to feel not good”

Koscielny suffered an Achilles injury during the Europa League semi-finals last season which ruled him out for several months. However, Emery has confirmed that this time, the Frenchman’s Achilles is not broken.

The Spaniard said, “I think it’s not broken. I think it’s only a precaution because he didn’t feel good and with the possibility that maybe if he carried on in the match, it could break.”

Given that Unai Emery mentioned the possibility of Koscielny getting injured had he carried on playing, the Spaniard will most likely rest him for the club’s next match against Southampton on Sunday at the Emirates.