Despite a lack of experience in the UEFA Champions League, Arteta supports his Arsenal team.
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Tonight, Arsenal aims to carry over their impressive performance in domestic matches onto the European stage as they face Porto in the first leg of the Champions League last-16.
The Gunners resume their campaign with a visit to Portugal after winning five consecutive matches since their winter break, which Mikel Arteta says has rejuvenated the team. During this streak, the Premier League club has scored 21 goals and positioned themselves as potential champions.
Arteta also has other objectives, and one of the highest on his list is a successful performance in Europe. After a seven-year absence, Arsenal has made it to the knockout rounds of the Champions League, but they will have a tough challenge against Porto.
Porto are third in Liga Portugal and finished second in Group H behind Barcelona with four wins from their six group games. They are unbeaten in their last three home matches against Arsenal and will feel confident about causing an upset tonight.
Stay updated on everything happening in the Champions League tonight and also find the most recent odds and tips here.
Porto 0-0 Arsenal
In just three minutes, Declan Rice aggressively tackles Galeno as he tries to maneuver down the field. Rice successfully stops the forward but also receives the first yellow card of the game.
Start the game! The score is tied at 0-0 between Porto and Arsenal.
The match begins with the home team and they move the ball towards their back line. A sharp pass is sent across the field to Ben White, but William Saliba steps in and stops the ball before it can reach him. Arsenal now have possession of the ball.
Porto vs Arsenal
The players are arriving.
Martin Odegaard leads out the Gunners with most of the starting XI making their debuts in the Champions League knockout rounds.
What will be the outcome for Mikel Arteta’s team this evening? The game will start shortly…
Porto vs Arsenal
Pepe, at the age of 40 years and 360 days, holds the distinction of being the oldest outfield player to begin a knockout stage match in the Champions League. This surpasses the previous record set by Ryan Giggs for Manchester United against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals in April 2014, when he was 40 years and 123 days old.
Bukayo Saka is aiming to score three goals in a single game for Arsenal for the first time, as he continues his impressive run of scoring.
Bukayo Saka is hoping to achieve his first hat-trick with Arsenal, as the skilled winger has already scored two goals in consecutive away victories for Mikel Arteta’s team, who are currently competing for the title.
Saka successfully converted a penalty kick and scored a goal during regular play in both of those impressive victories. However, the young player who came up through the academy has yet to achieve a hat-trick for Arsenal.
Porto vs Arsenal
Porto has lost in seven out of eight Champions League knockout matches against English teams. However, they did manage to defeat Manchester United in the last-16 stage on their path to winning the tournament in 2003/04.
Porto vs Arsenal
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight Uefa club competition matches against Portuguese teams with three wins and five draws.
Unfortunately, they were knocked out by Sporting on penalty kicks in the previous year’s Europa League, following two matches that ended in a 2-2 and 1-1 tie.
There is more than just recent history for Arsenal to rewrite in the Champions League.
The team’s recent strong performance has heightened the excitement among the traveling group. It serves as a pleasant reminder that the competition still holds great importance and can bring a sense of joy, despite facing challenges.
The players of Arsenal believe that this is where they should consistently be each year. However, Mikel Arteta has been focusing on getting the team ready for their first Champions League knockout match in seven years. There are other issues that need to be addressed besides this disappointing statistic.
Porto vs Arsenal
In this season’s group stage, Mikel Arteta’s team earned 13 points and finished four points above second-place PSV Eindhoven in Group B.
Despite earning almost the same number of points as Group H leaders, Porto was unable to secure the top spot due to their head-to-head results against Barcelona, who defeated them twice.
Porto vs Arsenal
Kai Havertz also scored at this location against tonight’s opponent Porto.
In February 2020, he scored the winning goal for his former team Bayer Leverkusen in their 3-1 victory against Porto in the Europa League.
This information is from independent.co.uk.
