Arsenal might be favorites to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday night, but there will be work for them to do at the Emirates Stadium as they bid to overcome a 1-0 first leg deficit to Porto. Galeno’s stunning strike in added time inflicted defeats on the Premier League leaders in the Estadio do Dragao last month and has Mikel Arteta’s side facing the very real prospect of an eighth straight exit from the round of 16 in Europe’s premier club competition.
Still, they have responded to their first leg setback in style, winning all three Premier League games since by an aggregate margin of 12-2. Porto, however, have found form of their own as well and crushed rivals Benfica 5-0 earlier this month. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know:
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Viewing information
- Date: Tuesday, March 12 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Location: Emirates Stadium — London
- Watch: Paramount+
- Odds: Arsenal -500; Draw: +550; Porto +1200
Storylines
Arsenal: A home round of 16 tie in this competition is usually enough to bring the Emirates Stadium faithful out in nervous rashes. Before their six year absence from this competition, the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona would routinely roll into town to crush Arsene Wenger’s spirits, his stadium usually empty long before the final whistle had been blown. Arteta has made it his mission to change the atmosphere in a fanbase whose support he will need in what could well be a trying encounter with a Porto side not averse to a bit of sportsmanship.
“For 96 minutes bring your energy, bring your noise and let’s do it together,” said Arteta. “I think the impact they [the supporters] can make tomorrow is incredible. I don’t think that they really realize, so we need that noise and we need them playing every single ball with us.”
His side’s task will be all the harder with Gabriel Martinelli set to miss out with a cut on his foot that is yet to heal. Takehiro Tomiyasu could return to strengthen defense while there is the possibility of Gabriel Jesus starting after two appearances off the bench since overcoming his latest knee issue.
Porto: Sergio Conceicao’s men are as impressive as any team when it comes to the dark arts and the first leg saw them showcase some exceptional cynicism, drawing 19 fouls from the Gunners and creating the better of the chances even before Galeno’s one in a hundred winner. It seems they will work to repeat that trick in London.
“The players must be happy with what they did [in Porto],” said Conceicao. “There was little time to work, but there was a lot of determination. The team understood perfectly the spaces they had to step into to condition our opponents and also what we had to do up front to hurt them. It was a good game, a Champions League game. Our opponents had more of the ball, but Porto were always more dangerous.”
Prediction
You wouldn’t know it from their first leg performance but Arsenal have been one of the best teams in Europe and, if they play at anything like their potential level, they should have few problems overturning their deficit. PICK: Arsenal 2, Porto 0
