The Wenger Emirates Stadium's time to pay off the mortgage is long gone – a European paradox that, years after finishing second in 2006, when Arsenal would fight to the last battle to qualify for the Champions League every season, only for their seemingly usual heavy defeat to R16 or sometimes the quarter-final stage to be hailed as vital to their chances of re-qualifying. After a few years of hoping against the odds as Arsenal tried to repair their finances, elimination reached a grim inevitability that led to some of the bleakest nights on the pitch this neutral observer has ever experienced. No wonder Mikel Arteta, who played in a handful of those matches, has asked his fans to 'bring the noise' tonight.
That's not the case tonight, although there was something disturbingly familiar about their performance in the first leg in Porto. They failed to find the urgency or precision that would have given them the edge in a match tainted by the curse of broken play, the ball on the touchline for long periods and the hosts, understandably, exploiting the opportunity to dawdle and provoke Arsenal's sting. . Their uncompromising and diligent work in defending corners also distracted Arsenal. They have had three weeks to come up with an answer to the arts that Pepe has been perfecting and teaching for thirty years.
Arteta's side were superb in six of their eight consecutive league victories and found their way with skill and tenacity in the other two – the victories over Liverpool and Brentford. Martin Odegaard believes the experience of the match against Brentford, when they overcame the disruption caused by the ball being out of play for so long, and Brentford's cleverly organized resilience, will allow them to triumph tonight. “It was a very good training for the upcoming match,” said the captain.
“We had to deal with many different situations, which meant that a lot of time was wasted. We had to keep our emotions in check throughout the game and I think we did that brilliantly. It was really good training for another big game and we did really well.”
Porto, third and seven points behind Sporting, have won three and drawn one of their four league games since beating Arsenal, including a thumping 5-0 victory over second-placed Benfica in which Galeno, match winner of this first leg draw, scoring twice and his compatriots, Wendell and Pepe, taking one each. The fifth goalscorer was Danny Namaso, known in his Reading days as Danny Loader, who will start on the bench tonight given the prolific form of Evanilson, who has scored 21 goals this season, through the middle, Galeno from the left, the other Pepe making plans and the manager's son, Francisco Conceicao, on the right.
#Arsenal #Porto #live #score #latest #updates #Champions #League
