Fabregas' World Cup thrown into doubt

Broken leg will take six weeks to heal while Gallas and Arshavin miss four games

Arsenal have confirmed that their captain Cesc Fabregas suffered a stress fracture of his right leg in the 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday night and will not play again for them this season. The 22-year-old underwent a scan yesterday afternoon which revealed the extent of the damage.

Doctors say the Spain international will be out for a minimum of six weeks, which makes him a major doubt for the World Cup finals as the deadline for the initial squad of 30 players falls on 16 May. An Arsenal statement read: "Following a scan this afternoon, the club can confirm that Cesc Fabregas has suffered a small crack in his right fibula as a result of the collision with Barcelona defender Carles Puyol during Wednesday evening's match. As a consequence, Cesc will miss the remainder of the domestic campaign as he will be out of action for at least six weeks. Everyone at the club wishes Cesc a full and speedy recovery."

Arsenal also revealed William Gallas and Andrei Arshavin would both be out for three weeks after picking up calf strains on Wednesday and should miss four games each.

Fabregas suffered his injury winning the penalty from which he scored Arsenal's equaliser against his former club. He played on, despite being in clear pain, as Arsenal had already used all their substitutes. It could conceivably be his last appearance for Arsenal, with Barcelona likely to make a serious bid for him in the summer.

The injury to Fabregas marred a spectacular night at the Emirates. Theo Walcott, who came off the bench to score Arsenal's first goal, described watching Barcelona's dazzling first-half display as like "someone was holding them with a PlayStation controller".

Barcelona bewitched Arsenal for 45 minutes, but could not find a way past Manuel Almunia in the Arsenal goal. Pep Guardiola's side enjoyed 71 per cent of the possession during a remarkable footballing demonstration, played at a relentless pace and tempo.

Walcott, who impressed in front of the England manager Fabio Capello, said: "As a young player growing up and still learning about the game, it was a fantastic experience just to watch some world-class players. It was like someone was holding them with a PS3 controller, controlling them all the time. It was fantastic – too much."

Arsenal fought back after going 2-0 down to two second-half goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Walcott admitted that in previous years that might not have happened. "To see us go 2-0 down a year or two years ago, we might have let our heads drop and there would have been a different results. But the experiences of the last few years – such as the loss to Manchester United last season [in the Champions League semi-finals] – showed, most definitely."

Almunia had a mixed night, pulling off a string of fine first-half saves before being caught out for Ibrahimovic's first goal. "It was my busiest game for Arsenal," he said. "They created a lot of chances and it was hard but we showed a lot of spirit in the last 20 minutes and we battled back to get a draw.

"With it being 2-2 we have a lot better chance of getting through than we did when it was 2-0, but we'll have to change a bit and show more character and creativity and not give Barcelona the ball as much because when they get the ball they play good football and create many chances."

The night also marked Thierry Henry's return to the club where he scored 226 goals in 369 games. The Frenchman thanked the Arsenal fans for their tribute at the final whistle. Henry said: "There was a lot of emotion. I would like to thank them. It was amazing. What happened, I never would have imagined. I have great love for the club and I think the fans – you saw – still love me."

Following the blow of losing Fabregas, Arsène Wenger was more upbeat about striker Robin van Persie. The Arsenal manager said: "The latest news on Robin is very promising, but we have to wait two more weeks to integrate him fully into first team training."