MADRID, 11 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Arsenal receives Porto at the Emirates Stadium this Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, a match they arrive with the need to win by more than a goal advantage if they want to qualify. to the quarterfinals, after being defeated in O Dragao (1-0) after a great goal from Galeno in the 94th minute of the match.
Arsenal and Porto will define their fate in the Champions League at the London venue. After the in-extremis victory of the Portuguese in the first leg, Arteta’s men face the second leg with the need to win by two goals if they want to be present in the penultimate round of the ‘Champions’ 14 years later.
To achieve this, the Gunners arrive at the match at the best moment of the season. Arsenal are leaders of the Premier League after having won their last eight games in the domestic competition. In fact, the only ‘slip’ for the Londoners since January 8 is the narrow defeat in Porto.
If Arsenal have shown anything in their last four home games, it has been their scoring effectiveness. Arteta’s men have managed to score 14 goals in these matches, that is, an average of more than 3 goals per match. Furthermore, in the three Champions League games they have played at home this season, Arteta’s men have achieved three victories with a balance of 12 goals for and none against, and in all of them they achieved a result that this Tuesday would give them the classification.
Opposite will be a Porto that has been launched in its last six games, in which it has achieved five victories and one draw. In addition, some of merit such as that of Arsenal or the 5-0 win against one of their greatest historical rivals, Benfica. Results that dictate a lot of the irregular start to the season that means they are seven points behind Sporting de Portugal, leader of the Portuguese league.
However, despite their good moment, Porto will have to put in their best historical performance at the Emirates, since every time they have visited they have ended up losing. In fact, the three defeats in Arsenal’s fief had in common the lack of a goal, the last precedent being, in this same round, ended in a 5-0 win for the Gunners.
Although the precedents give Arsenal a certain favoritism despite being behind in the tie, Arteta’s team should play a much more fluid game with the ball than in the first leg, in which they barely had any scoring chances. The London team did not finish once on goal, despite carrying the weight of the game almost at all times, so the good work of Havertz and Saka, authors of 10 goals between them in the last six games, will be decisive in the resolution of the tie.
Opposite, Galeno, scorer of the only goal in the first leg, and Porto’s top scorer in the Champions League with five goals, is the Portuguese’s great hope to be among the eight best teams in Europe for the second time in the last four seasons. In addition, the Brazilian winger is in his best scoring moment of the season, scoring a goal per game in his last six games.
In the casualties section, Arteta has the doubt of Martinelli, who missed the last Premier match against Brentford due to ankle discomfort due to injury, while Sergio Conceiçao, as happened in the first leg, will not be able to count on the Marcano, Ribeiro and Zaidu injured.