Key events
Half time: Arsenal 1-0 Porto (aggregate: 1-1)
The half ends in a hail of boos, but they’re aimed at the referee for bringing an early halt. Arsenal have been put to the test in this first half, but will be feeling much better about things after Leandro Trossard’s 41st-minute goal got them level in the tie.
46 mins: Havertz is caught by Varela’s stray boot in his, er, midriff. Arsenal free-kick … but Turpin blows the whistle while the ball is in the air.
45 mins: Pepê goes down again, this time after a collision with his teammate, Nico Gonzalez, after Pepe (the defender) had flicked on a cross. There’s then a heated contretemps between Rice and Otavio, heads pressed together briefly before Varela intervenes.
44 mins: There’s a break in play after Pepê (the attacking player) is brought down by Gabriel. Home fans enjoy a rendition of “1-0 to the Arsenal,” for that is the score.
Arsenal needed a moment of magic and Ødegaard delivered it, collecting Trossard’s sideways pass and slicing the Porto defence apart with the return ball. Trossard, played onside by Pepe, still has to take a touch and pick his spot – and he does so in style, rolling the ball into the far corner!
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Porto (Trossard 40′)
Just as the frustration was starting to build, Leandro Trossard strikes – set up by a quite brilliant assist from Martin Ødegaard! Joy (and relief) abounds at the Emirates.
38 mins: Galeno continues to make a nuisance of himself, turning beyond Saliba on the touchline and forcing the Arsenal defender to hold him up. Saliba is the first name into Monsieur Turpin’s black book.
36 mins: Any hopes among the home fans that Porto would fold meekly here have been thoroughly dismissed; the visitors have come here with a clear strategy and are holding Arsenal at arm’s length so far.
34 mins: Evanilson tries to backheel the ball through to Galeno, but is flagged offside.
32 mins: Wendell, who was struck in the face by Saka’s cross, stays down and is berated by the nearby home fans. Pepe, of all people, asks them to cut his teammate some slack. When the corner finally arrives, it comes to nothing.
30 mins: Gonzalez clips Saka on the ankles, presenting Arsenal with a free kick. Odegaard curls the ball in, and the slightly-unconvincing-so-far Porto keeper, Diogo Costa, flaps at it before Saka’s attempted cross is deflected behind.
29 mins: From which Saka holds his run and plays in Ben White on the overlap. His cross to the far post is perfectly weighted, and Havertz is waiting to nod the ball in – but Pepe gets his trademark shiny dome to the ball, diverting it out for a corner!
28 mins: End-to-end stuff here as Galeno nods the ball across goal, just beyond Evanilson and into Raya’s gloves, allowing Arsenal to break …
27 mins: Arsenal not quite able to carve out a clear-cut chance yet, but they have made some in-roads. Here, Trossard’s near-post cross is awkward for Declan Rice, who tries to head for goal but ends up connecting with his face.
25 mins: “The referee, Clément Turpin, looks like Trossard’s elder brother,” notes Charles Antaki. He really does!
23 mins: Porto aren’t here to sit on their first-leg lead as Evanilson demonstrates with another thudding strike, forcing Raya into action at his near post. Arsenal’s defenders, perhaps not expecting so much early pressure, look a little nervous.
21 mins: Ally McCoist points out that “the Porto boys” raced out right on time there to catch Gabriel and co offside, making the visiting backline sound like a 90s one-hit wonder.
No goals here yet, but we’ve had two already in tonight’s other tie:
19 mins: Odegaard whips the ball in from deep and for a second, it looks like Arsenal have undone the Porto offside trap – but Gabriel is flagged offside, and skews his volley over the bar anyway.
18 mins: Arsenal get a free kick after Evanilson sends Jorginho crashing to the floor. The burly Brazilian is perhaps fortunate not to get booked for that.
16 mins: A warning shot across the bows from Porto striker Evanilson, who fires just wide of the far post from Saliba’s tentative headed clearance.
15 mins: Trossard swings in a dangerous cross and Saka gets his head to it, but mistimes his effort. Wendell, caught on his heels a couple of times already, got across well there to put him under pressure.
13 mins: Saka plays it short, gets it back and cuts the ball inside to Odegaard, whose low shot ripples the side netting.
12 mins: Another moment of counter-pressing lets Saka in, and he bursts beyond Gonzalez and Wendell with a shimmying run. Keeper Diogo Costa is so mesmerised, he spills Saka’s tame shot, and Porto have to scramble it away at the expense of a corner.
10 mins: Because Ødegaard catches Wendell dallying on the ball and breaks free down the right. His cross is half-cleared towards Trossard, who thinks about launching an acrobatic effort but instead plays it back to Kiwior, whose cross-shot from a tight angle is blocked.
9 mins: 62% possession for Porto in the early stages. A bit of a rope-a-dope ploy from Arteta? Maybe …
7 mins: From 40 yards out, Porto try to work the ball into the area rather than lump a cross in, but Arsenal are able to intercept. The visitors have been more adventurous in the early stages than many observers expected.
6 mins: Arteta is already chatting away to assistant Albert Stuivenberg on the touchline, as Havertz is penalised for a handball as he tried to get under a high ball.
5 mins: Porto send some bodies, including Pepe, into the box for a long throw, but Arsenal get the ball clear.
3 mins: Arsenal play through the press and Saka spins away upfield, before he is hauled down by Wendell. Surprisingly, the referee waves play on, and Ben White gets up at the far post to head a cross just over the bar!
1 min: The air is thick with flare smoke from the away end – fans travelling here from Portugal (and possibly up the Victoria Line from Stockwell) in big numbers. Porto get an early free kick, to the sound of boos from the home fans.
Kick off
Porto are unbeaten in five; Arsenal’s only loss in their last nine games was in the first leg. These two teams are running hot. Let’s do this!
“This must be an emotional night for Arsenal substitute Fábio Vieira, born and bred in the Porto area, a product of their youth academy who played for their senior side before making the move to London a couple of years ago,” notes Peter Oh. And on the opposite bench, there’s … er … former West Ham striker Toni Martínez!
Laura Woods, Rio Ferdinand and Martin Keown are in their car coats at the back of the tunnel, whispering away. The players get the nod, and out they trot to a mighty roar.
Some contrasting pre-match vibes out there:
“Is progress in the Champions League important for Arteta?” asks Charles Antaki. “Yes, certainly; and failure here would be the devastating side of embarrassing. But not terminal for his tenure in post; he’s protected for a good while yet. And I don’t think you’ll find any but the most purblind and excitable Arsenal supporter wanting it any different.”
Meanwhile, here’s Eagle Brosi: “Last season it was the game against Sporting which knocked Arsenal out of Europe, Saliba got injured and it felt all the wind went out of the title march. It was soul crushing. I’m worried about tonight. I think Arsenal could get caught out early thinking Porto is going to defend. I think it could all happen again.”
Barcelona host Napoli in tonight’s other last-16 tie, and Will Unwin is missing his anniversary to cover it, so you could at least drop in and say hello.
“Has a referee’s nickname ever been so predetermined as Monsieur Turpin’s in North London tonight?” asks Justin Kavanagh. “The ‘robbery’ claims by Arteta will write themselves should Arsenal fail tonight.”
It’s the worst case of nominative determinism since the 1878 FA Cup final.
“The news that Skynet is taking over the Champions League draw is alarming, but this helpful video explains the new system clearly and concisely,” writes Brian McCloskey.
Porto’s team is unchanged from the XI that nicked a 1-0 win in the first leg, with a defence featuring João Mário (not that one) and Pepe (that one). Pepê (a different one) starts alongside the in-form Galeno in a 4-2-3-1 that’s probably going to look more like a 4-5-1 off the ball.
Gabriel Martinelli is not fit to make the bench, with Kai Havertz starting up front in the only change from the first leg. Leandro Trossard is preferred to Gabriel Jesus as Arteta sticks with the outfield players that beat Brentford on Saturday, and David Raya returns between the posts.
“Where do you think this fixture lands in terms of importance in Arteta’s tenure?” asks Gabriel Zoltan-Johan. “Surely it must be in the top three.”
It’s a tough one: there have been plenty of games with higher stakes but it does feel like a huge psychological barrier to overcome. Arsenal haven’t won a Champions League knockout tie since before Arteta played for the club. Also: with a name like that, Gabriel, are you on the books at the academy?
Team news
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Rice, Ødegaard (c), Jorginho; Saka, Havertz, Trossard.
Subs: Ramsdale, Hein, Partey, Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Fábio Vieira, Nelson, Elneny, Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus.
Porto (4-2-3-1): Costa; João Mário, Pepe (c), Otávio, Wendell; Varela, Nico González; Francisco Conceição, Eduardo Pepê, Galeno; Evanilson.
Subs: Claudio Ramos, Fábio Cardoso, Eustáquio, Grujic, Taremi, Sánchez, Jaime, Namaso, Romário Baró, Toni Martínez, Gonçalo Borges, Ze Pedro.
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
Mikel Arteta has grabbed his leotard and welding mask, urging his players to take their passion and make it happen in the Champions League tonight.
David Hytner takes a look at the bigger picture for Porto, currently behind the two Lisbon sides in the title race. Amid financial uncertainty and boardroom turmoil, former manager André Villas-Boas is bidding to return as president.
As mentioned below, Porto arrive here with a 1-0 lead after Galeno’s late strike punished an Arsenal side who failed to muster a shot on target.
Intriguing news emerging today: the new Champions League “league phase”, which comes into effect next season, is so complicated that the draw will have to be done by computer. What could possibly go wrong there?!
Preamble
There was a time not so long ago when the Champions League last 16 was indisputably the “round of Arsenal”. From 2010-11 to 2016-17, the Gunners crashed out at this stage on seven consecutive occasions. This is the club’s first season back in Europe’s premier competition since then, and a chance for Mikel Arteta to start rewriting recent history.
This being Arsenal in Europe, doing so was never likely to be smooth sailing; amid a run of ruthless, free-scoring domestic form, Arteta’s side lost the first leg 1-0 in Portugal. They are still big favourites to go through tonight, and can banish a few demons with the kind of comprehensive win that has been their forte of late.
The last time Arsenal reached the quarter-finals in 2010, they did so at the expense of Porto, thrashing them 5-0 at home after losing the first leg. Other omens are not quite so positive – Arteta is yet to win a knockout European tie at the Emirates in five attempts. Tonight, club and manager will either change that narrative, or be left with the familiar feeling of what might have been.
