Double Euro boost for Arsenal

Arsenal have been handed a double boost in their bid for European success.

Champions League rivals Valencia have confirmed that the two players who did the most damage to Liverpool in the first phase of the Champions League will be missing when the Spaniards visit Highbury in three weeks' time.

Losing Argentine World Cup star Pablo Aimar is the most severe blow to Valencia coach Rafa Benitez, who believes that the brilliant little No10 was the best player in La Liga last season rather than just the best foreign player as he was voted.

Aimar has damaged a muscle in his right thigh and will certainly not play within the next month.

Valencia's chief medical specialist Jorge Candel confirmed today: "Pablo has a small tear in his muscle and that means it will take around four weeks to repair."

It was Aimar who teased and taunted Gerard Houllier's Liverpool at the Mestalla stadium in September.

The gifted and tough orchestrator of Valencia's most creative work has been praised by Diego Maradona, who claims that not only is Aimar the inheritor of his own mantle as Argentina's inspiration, but he is also the most entertaining player in the world today.

Valencia coach Benitez's dismay was then added to with the news that Rufete, who scored the goal in Valencia's 1-0 victory at Anfield in the first Champions League group stage earlier this month, is also going to be missing when the Spaniards try to repeat the win in north London.