Gunners fail to fire
COACH BEMOANS THEIR LACK OF CUTTING EDGE IN PORTO DEFEAT
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta bemoaned his team’s lack of cutting edge as Galeno’s sublime stoppage-time goal earned Porto a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Appearing in a first knockout match in Europe’s premier club competition for seven years, Arsenal struggled to break down an organised Porto defence before Galeno’s stroke of brilliance in the 94th minute.
The defeat ended Arsenal’s eight-game unbeaten run against Portuguese opposition and the Gunners with plenty of work to do in the return leg in London on 12 March.
“We lacked threat. We lacked aggression, especially when we had the ball in the final third,” Arteta told TNT Sports. “So we will tweak a few things to attack better. We can do better.”
Arsenal last made it to the Champions League quarterfinals in 2010, when they beat Porto in the last-16, but it is the Portuguese club who now have the upper hand.
“I think it’s a team that’s very well-organised defensively and they break your rhythm all the time,” said Arteta.
“We want to be in the quarterfinals, you have to beat your opponent and this is what we have to do at the Emirates.”
Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target as their recent goal spree came to a shuddering halt.
“When it’s 0-0, you look up at the clock and it’s 93 minutes gone. If you aren’t going to win the game then don’t lose it,” said Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice.
“It’s a real kick in the teeth because we’ve conceded late but we know what to do. We’re not going to let our heads drop.”
Arteta stuck with the same starting line-up for the third game in succession following his team’s 5-0 demolition of Burnley at the weekend.
Porto defender
Pepe, who
turns 41 next week and is the oldest outfield player in Champions League history, made his 119th appearance in the competition.
By comparison, Arsenal’s starters had combined for a total of 104 before kick-off at the Estadio do Dragao.
While short on Champions League experience, Arteta has said his squad have the belief they can mix it with Europe’s best.
The Gunners have started 2024 with five successive wins in the Premier League, scoring
21 goals in those games, and are firmly in the race for a first title in two decades.
As well as reigning supreme in England for the first time since 2004, the north Londoners are convinced they can also conquer Europe, spurred on further by the prospect of a Wembley final.
Arsenal have never won the Champions League – losing their only final appearance against Barcelona in 2006.
Porto were European champions in 1987 and 2004. –