Arsenal ready to prove that they are Champions League contenders،
Arsenal and the UEFA Champions League is a story that usually doesn't end well. The 13-time English champions are arguably the greatest club never to win Europe's premier competition and their only mark in the Champions League is underperformance.
The last time the Gunners won a knockout match in the competition, they did so thanks to a Nicklas Bendtner hat-trick (remember him?) in a 5-0 last-16 second leg victory against Porto in March 2010. overturned a 2-1 first-leg defeat to take Arsène Wenger's side into the quarter-finals and a 6-3 defeat on aggregate against Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
Since then, it has been nothing more than a dismal failure in the Champions League for London's biggest club when they managed to qualify for the competition. Premier League rivals Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City have all reached the final during this period. Liverpool, City and Chelsea (twice) managed to win, but Arsenal can only report a series of eight successive eliminations in the round of 16.
When Mikel Arteta's side face Porto on Tuesday night – in their attempt to overturn a one-goal deficit after a first-leg defeat, as they did in 2010 – they will go into the match having not won an elimination match directly at home during the first leg. Champions League since 2012. But back then, a 3-0 win at the Emirates against AC Milan was not enough to overturn a 4-0 first-leg defeat at the San Siro.
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Arteta has transformed Arsenal since taking charge of the team in December 2019. He has made them serious Premier League title contenders again and restored the club to the Champions League after a six-season absence, but Tuesday's Porto clash is a reminder of how far Arteta and the club still have to go in club football's biggest competition before they can truly count on returning to the elite.
The test of Arsenal's Premier League resolve is yet to come this season, but Arteta's side are top of the table, one point ahead of Liverpool, and will emerge as favorites to finish in head and end a 20-year title drought if they beat City at the Etihad on March 31.
So far this season, Arsenal have responded to every challenge they have faced in the Premier League. And aside from the first-leg defeat to Porto at the Estádio do Dragão last month, they lived up to expectations in the Champions League, finishing top of Group B by four points.
But now it is time for Arsenal to show that they have overcome the weaknesses that have damaged them in the past, both domestically and in Europe. It's time for Arteta and his players to keep their cool when the pressure is really on – something they haven't been able to do over the past two seasons as they chase the title in 2023 and attempt to qualify for the Champions League in 2022. Last season, facing a difficult opponent, Sporting CP, in the Europa League, Arsenal did not find a way to win, losing 5-3 on penalties at the Emirates after two draws in the round of 16 against the Portuguese team.
Porto are a team capable of inflicting even more Champions League pain on Arsenal. They have lost just once in their last 15 games, have a respected coach in Sérgio Conceição and, in 41-year-old defender Pepê, have experience and knowledge in the competition that can going a long way to ensuring a frustrating evening for Arteta's side. .
Although Porto have an excellent record in the Champions League, they have not knocked out an English club in the competition since Jose Mourinho's side knocked out United in 2003-04. Arsenal should therefore progress if they perform as they have in the Premier League this season.
The ghosts of their Champions League history have yet to be exorcised, but this season offers Arsenal an incredible opportunity to do so emphatically.
With neighboring Wembley Stadium hosting the final on June 1, the prospect of winning the Champions League in one's home city is an obvious motivator, but the field of competitors should also give Arsenal optimism of winning their first European Cup .
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, already qualified for the quarter-finals, are weaker than in previous seasons, as are Barcelona, Napoli, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan. As for the winners of the Borussia Dortmund-PSV Eindhoven match, they will be the team everyone will want to be associated with in Friday's quarter-final draw.
That leaves reigning European champions and favorites City to win it again this season, but Arsenal finally ended their nine-game losing streak against Guardiola's side by beating them at the Emirates in the Premier League this season . So they now know the feeling of success against the dominant force of the game.
If Arsenal can overcome the obstacles that Porto will put in their way, they should fear no remaining team in the Champions League.
But first they must get past Porto and that could be the biggest challenge of all. Tension, a poor history and a pattern of failure in the Champions League continue to haunt Arsenal, which is why defeating Porto will mean more than just reaching the quarter-finals.
