Match Day Thread FC Porto vs Arsenal - Matchday Thread (Champions League - RO16 - 1st leg)

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Venue: Estádio do Dragão
Date: Wednesday 21st February 2024
KO time: 20:00 GMT

Overall Record

Wins: 3
Losses: 2
Draws: 1

Last six meetings

Arsenal 5-0 FC Porto
FC Porto 2-1 Arsenal
FC Porto 2-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 4-0 FC Porto
FC Porto 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 FC Porto

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By the law of averages, we win this game 5.5 - 0

 

I'll take that

 

Think we all would

Porto was actually the last opponent we played where we made it past the Round of 16 which was in 2010 (nuts how this was 14 years ago!).

I remember watching both games on ITV.

First leg, I remember Fabianski had an absolute horror show.

We scored an away goal courtesy of Sol Campbell’s header after Fabianski’s own goal early on. Then I remember later on in the match, Fabianski picked up the ball from a backpass leading to an indirect free-kick to Porto, who took it quickly and Falcao tucked it away to give them a 2-1 advantage.

Second leg, I think we had quite an injury plagued team but we absolutely smashed them 5-0.
Bendtner got a hat-trick and Nasri scored a phenomenal individual goal.

It was a wonderful night. Hoping we can win both legs this time around though!

 

You forget about some of those GK / Defensive calamities. Koscielny and Szczesny in the league cup final against Brum. The various gaffs from Fabianski, Almunia, etc. And then you think of some of the players they had in front of them.

I guess it's testament to how far we've come under Arteta that we no longer have these nightmares.

 

WTF are these injuries that Tomi, Zinchenko and Jesus have? They weren’t supposed to out for long and they’ve been missing the last 3 weeks of action!

Tomiyasu especially - he played every game for Japan at the Asia Cup, comes back and hasn’t been seen since.

I love him as a player, but I would consider not giving him a new deal because he just can't stay fit over a prolonged period of time.

 

Have to disagree on Tomiyasu. I think we should keep him, he's a brilliant player and always does a good job when he comes in.

Even if he's injured a fair amount of the time, he can still hit the ground running when he is available. He also seems happy to play his part as a squad player.

 

Nah, I think we should sell and get another option (Diomande) if the opportunity is available this Summer.

He’s missed a lot of football over the 3 years he’s been here and he keeps getting injured during crunch time when we need him.

It’s unfortunate that this has happened during his time here - because he’s top class when he’s fit - but we can’t be sentimental if we want to build a top side.

Availability is the best quality you can have as a footballer and he doesn’t have it.

 

I’d even consider selling Jesus and Zinchenko if I’m honest. Or reducing their roles to squad players while we upgrade the first team. None of these players can be relied on to maintain their fitness for the entire season.

 

Too late

 

Yeah I saw this earlier. I think this is a risky move. But he’s still only 25, he’s versatile, plays well when he is fit and, assuming he’s happy to be a squad player, then I guess it’s ok.

I am praying he finds a way to keep the injuries to a minimum.

 

Well, that wasn’t ideal.

1-0 deficit isn’t the end of the world and the reaction on social media has been excessive, but that really wasn’t good enough tonight.

We played like a team who lacked maturity and are inexperienced. We were missing some key players, but that doesn’t excuse the poor execution of attacking moments and how sterile the possession was.

We played right into their hands and let them get something to defend in the 2nd leg.

I’m quite angry with Raya for being SO far off his line for that last minute goal. It was a superb strike, but if he’s a few yards further back, the shot probably doesn’t go in. Why was he taking such a high position so late in the game? Bonkers.

 

Gutted to lose that. I didn't think we'd done much wrong to be honest, I just thought Porto were really at it and pressed and hurried us.

Should be a different game at the Emirates as I think they'll be trying to defend that lead. We have to be wary of the counter with the speed of their players though.

 

Really? We didn't have a shot on target and we played the game how they wanted it to be played. Getting drawn into fouls and breaking up play to disrupt the flow of the game. I think our performance yesterday showed our inexperience, but I am hoping we've learned a lot from that first leg and what to expect from Porto in the second leg.