Lack of Champions League experience cost Arsenal, says Arteta
A lack of experience in Europe’s top club competition was a factor in Arsenal conceding a late goal in their Champions League game at Porto on Wednesday but manager Mikel Arteta said the north London side will learn from the 1-0 defeat.
Arsenal failed to get a shot on target all night despite having the majority of possession in the first leg of the round of 16 tie, with Galeno’s 94th-minute winner condemning them to defeat.
Wednesday’s match at the Estadio Do Dragao was Arsenal’s first Champions League knockout game under Arteta and came six seasons after they last competed in Europe’s top-tier competition in 2016-17.
“We really dominated the game but we lacked purpose, especially in the first half, to have much more aggression, to break lines, to play forward, to generate much more threat in their backline,” Arteta told reporters.
“In the second half there were much better things and we generated a lot of situations without really creating much from it, but we’ll learn from it.”
When asked if Arsenal’s lack of Champions League experience could have been a factor in conceding the late goal, Arteta said: “It’s only the last ball.
“If in 94 minutes we didn’t have the naiveté in that one, I think it’s a bit cruel to judge it but it’s true that it’s had a big impact on the result.
“A lot of other things they’ve done for the first time here, it was very good.”
Arsenal next host Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday. They face Porto in the second leg on March 12 at the Emirates.
Napoli fought back to hold visitors Barcelona to a dour 1-1 draw in their Champions League last-16 first leg as Victor Osimhen cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s opener.
Last year’s Spanish and Italian champions, both struggling this season, played out a poor match in which both sides were toothless and lacking attacking flair.
Third in the La Liga standings eight points behind leaders Real Madrid, Barcelona dominated the first half against a disorganised Napoli who barely managed to get out of their own half.
“It is not a good result for the return leg,” Barca manager Xavi Hernández told Movistar Plus.
“We were better in all aspects of the game, we had to control and we struggled, we weren’t effective up front, it was a summary of our season.”
Barca were playing their first Champions League knockout match in three years while Napoli were led by new coach Francesco Calzona with their Serie A title defence in tatters as they languished ninth in the domestic standings.
Napoli were frustrated by Barca’s high pressing, missing simple passes and gifting the ball to the visitors who also looked short of ideas in possession.