Galeno’s stoppage-time goal has given our opponents a narrow 1-0 first-leg lead, but Mikel Arteta will be hoping that home advantage combined with our winning three league games since to lead the Premier League will take us through.
We’re hoping history repeats itself in the undoubtedly unique atmosphere of north London. We have only advanced past the first leg of a Champions League match once in the last ten attempts, and that was against the Portuguese powerhouses in 2010—ironically, the last time we secured a quarterfinal berth.
The initial segment
In an uneventful first leg in Portugal, Porto prevailed thanks to a goal with almost the final ball of the match.
The home team tried to impede our play whenever possible, so there wasn’t much to choose between the two teams in a stop-start match. We had more possession of the ball and forced ten corners into hazardous territory, but we were unable to overwhelm our opponents. Late in the game, Galeno delivered a stunning strike from outside the box, which caught us off guard.
Porto’s English hoodoo
With nine games left, Porto trails leaders Sporting Lisbon by seven points in the Primeira Liga, but they have made significant progress in closing the gap with Benfica, who are currently in second place for Champions League qualification, since our first-leg match.
Gil Vicente’s equaliser in the 94th minute appeared to have ended any chances of finishing in the top two, but an amazing 5-0 thumping of the defending champions Benfica narrowed the deficit to six points. The in-form Galeno scored his fifth goal in his previous five games on Friday in an easy and anticipated 3-0 victory over Portimonense.
They have made 22 attempts to win a competitive European match in England, and although they have a strong Champions League history—they won the trophy in 2003–04—they have never won both legs of a knockout match in the competition. Still, they know going into North London that a draw after 90 minutes will do.
What the Boss says
Arteta: “We’ll need to make a few adjustments in order to produce far more than we did against them. It’s the Champions League level; you’re up against elite teams, the idea that you have two games left to play weighs heavily on your mind, and we need to improve tomorrow.
“At this point, we know them somewhat. These are the kind of games that we have played a lot in the Premier League; we just played one two days ago. We’ll just concentrate on being who we are and doing more of the things under our control than we were a few weeks ago.
Sergio Conceicao: “Arsenal plays in the greatest league in the world and is used to a level of play that is significantly higher than that of any of its rivals in Europe.” We are always competitive, and we will be even more so tomorrow.
“We must assess our team’s performance and consider Arsenal’s exceptional qualities, as they comprehend every aspect of the game and apply relentless pressure.” Each player on the team is extremely strong, and they are a well-oiled unit. We approach it respectfully rather than fearfully.
To me, [the atmosphere] is meaningless. Football has an atmosphere, and we have fans—fewer in number but more fervent—as well. Proclamations are not what matter; players are what matter.
Team information
It is unclear if Gabriel Martinelli will be well enough to play after missing the match due to a foot injury, but David Raya is back in action against his parent club Brentford on Saturday.
following returning to training following the first leg, Fabio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Thomas Partey have all returned to action, leaving Jurrien Timber as our only remaining concern. Arteta also expects that Takehiro Tomiyasu may be available for the first time in 2024.
Due to a thigh issue, prolific scorer Mehdi Taremi was unable to play in the first leg but should be able to make an appearance on the bench.
Veteran centre back Ivan Marcano and left back Zaidu Sanusi are out for the season, and young player Gabriel Veron has been dealing with an Achilles problem the entire season.
Talking tactics
As stated by Adrian Clarke in the official matchday programme: At the Estadio Dragao, Conceicao set an example for defensive tactical mastery by forgoing a high-pressure, pressing style in favour of a methodical, well-planned strategy. With their notional No. 10 Pepe dropping back onto the right of midfield to pack central areas, their 4-2-3-1 became a 4-5-1 out of possession. Galeno and Francisco Conceicao, two wide men, likewise retreated behind the ball with great diligence.
They only had a 35% ball share in that game, so we can anticipate them sitting back in their form and trying to annoy us once more. They will want to induce mistakes that catch us off guard from their strong five-man midfield base.
It was evident that the Portuguese team would try to slow down the game’s tempo and make it more fractured and bitty in style than free-flowing. They would probably replicate this tactic by using a mid-block that is intended to clog space and interfere with our passing rhythm. They were extremely diligent in following the manager’s directions, rarely making a mistake. With only 17 goals conceded in 24 domestic league games, they are an extremely intelligent defence team.
They do not have much originality in the final third, but their flanks provide the majority of their most dangerous attacking attacks. They had a cumulative xG of 28.01 in open play in the Primera Liga, far lower than teams like Sporting (36.8), Braga (39.24), and Benfica (45.8). All five teams, together with the upstarts Estoril and Arouca, have scored more goals in open play than Porto.
Facts and statistics
We have defeated Porto 11-0 overall in all three of our home matches in all competitions.
In the Champions League knockout stages, we have dropped all five of our previous home matches, all of which were in the round of 16.
In the competition’s knockout phases, Porto has only triumphed twice in 22 away games; the first came against Deportivo de La Coruna in the 2003/04 semifinal and the second against Chelsea in Seville in the 2020–21 quarterfinal.
This season, we have won all three of our home games in Europe by a combined score of 12-0. In the Champions League, we’ve never won four straight games at home without giving up.
Bukayo Saka has so far made three appearances at home in the Champions League, contributing a goal and an assist. Karim Benzema, who played for Real Madrid in the 2011–12 season, is the first player in the tournament to have done it in four straight home games.
In his six European outings this season, Galeno has contributed to eight goals (three assists and five goals).
Match officials
The man in the middle will be Clement Turpin, a Frenchman. He has officiated games at the last two World Cups, the European Championship, and the 2022 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. He is an experienced official who has been on the FIFA list since 2010.
The PE instructor will be our fifth referee; the first occurred back in 2014 when we drew 3–3 in the Champions League group stages against Anderlecht after he gave us a penalty that Arteta scored. Even after our Europa League victory against AC Milan in 2018 and our 3-1 victory over Valencia the following year, we have never lost a game he has officiated.
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee: Erwan Finjean (FRA)
Fourth Official: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
VAR: Jerome Brisard (FRA)
Assistant VAR: Willy Delajod (FRA)
Earlier encounters
We have faced off in the Champions League in all seven of our prior meetings, and our first-leg loss has maintained the run of no away wins in those matches.
In the first meeting, which took place in 2006–07, we prevailed 2-0 at home behind goals from Thierry Henry and Alex Hleb before drawing 0-0 away. In the following season, 2008–09, we triumphed 4-0 at home behind braces from Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie before losing 2-0 away.
The last time we faced off was in the round of 16 the following season, when we overcame a 2-1 deficit in the first leg with a decisive 5-0 home victory to advance courtesy to a treble from Niclas Bendtner. Those matches took place in the group stage.
Live coverage
Nick Bright and Adrian Clarke will be live on Arsenal.com and the official app an hour before to kickoff to give you all the build-up to this exciting Champions League night.
They will be joined by esteemed members of the Arsenal community, Aaron Ramsey and Faye White, who will share their knowledge and attempt to forecast possible outcomes. Nicole Holliday will also be out and about, seeking the opinions of our players.
Actor Asa Butterfield will visit the set to design his dream Arsenal football player, while social media personalities Arthur Hill, That’s Watson, and ChrisMD will also showcase their expertise.
Then, starting at 8 p.m. UK time, Dan Roebuck and Jeremie Aliadiere will be providing live commentary in an attempt to walk you through a traditional European encounter.
