by Almost an hour into the tie two imperceptibly until it was probably too late, Arsenal got a glimpse of who exactly was in charge. They won possession just outside the Porto penalty area and Kai Havertz, advancing with purpose, had the chance to play Gabriel Martinelli through. Instead the ball ended up with Pepe, gimlet-eyed and perfectly placed. Seconds later he carried 30 yards up the field before slipping an accurate pass through midfield to Evanilson, putting the hosts away again. There was a sense that he could have done it all over again with blinders.
On Monday, Pepe will turn 41 years old. Blowing out all those candles may have taken more exercise than Arsenal’s pallid attack required just that moment of authority, sweeping aside the rhinoceros threat, the straight strut that is the hallmark of football minority for twenty years. , talk about the bigger picture.
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Arsenal’s past failures to 16 have been heavily documented but expectations for their return were high. Just in case they failed to land a hit on Pepe and Porto: old dogs who didn’t mind standing around to watch new tricks.
Long after Arsenal hurried down the tunnel, Porto’s players circled and the Estádio Do Dragão choir played through the club’s repertoire. The song for Mikel Arteta was a little more familiar: perhaps a football equivalent of the melancholic fado ballads that echo around some of the local bars.
It is a desire that cries of naivety and foggy decision-making against continental opponents schooled in the art of setting traps. Arteta often heard him as a player in north London and, after Martinelli’s needless Hollywood pass for Bukayo Saka in the last minute of extra time, the victory came again. Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa spoke cryptically of exposing Arsenal’s weaknesses and Galeno honored the promise by curling a scintillating finish around David Raya.
Costa was optimistic otherwise, the noise around Porto was extremely negative in the build-up. They are currently passengers in the Portuguese title race and the long-time Sérgio Conceição, who is Arteta’s rival in the stakes of touchline expressiveness, has felt the wrath of their support. What Lore had to say was that they weren’t up to the standard of Champions League football this time around. As events unfolded, that didn’t matter. Porto made it to the group stage seven times in the last decade: if nothing else, they knew the level intimately.
That knowledge helped Conceição, who is not one of the brightest young coaches in Europe at the age of 49 but is still a great operator, to win the battle of strategies against his counterpart. Porto were compact, athletic, quick to close down space and willing to test Arsenal on the counter. While Pepe, who made up for the lack of center forward to the needle by adding to the chaos of the penalty box in the visitors’ set pieces, there were impressive ball-carrying displays from his 26-year-old namesake further up the pitch. . Conceição knew Porto would have to pick their moments but they kept threatening all evening.
Arsenal, by contrast, did not pose much of a threat. It was one of those nights when Gabriel Jesus, still on the other side, could have given his colleagues extra strength. They have not failed to get a shot on target since losing at Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup just over two years ago. That particular game infuriated Arteta, who later joked about his lack of hunger. Such a charge would not be valid this time; instead Arteta felt aimless, perhaps timidity against Porto’s physicality, and above all a lack of clarity that ultimately led to their undoing.
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There will be no rush to declare this a terminal return. Arsenal have the tools to reach the Emirates in just under three weeks; they will still be favorites to reach their first quarter-final in 14 years and will be much more at risk than the headers from their centre-backs, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães, who have given up their best chances here. If the history books are anything to go by, the opposite can also be considered: they achieved that milestone in 2010 by beating Porto 5-0 at home, having lost by a one-goal margin in the first. foot
But, like his team, Arteta must prove that he has learned from bad experiences. During his reign, Arsenal missed the second leg at home against Olympiakos and, remarkably last season, Sporting. It cannot be a recurring pattern.
Perhaps a decade or so down the line, some of Arteta’s players will have matched Pepe’s three Champions League titles with Real Madrid. Perhaps they will be dealing with lessons on very favorable starts and reminding themselves that, for all the change in modern football and all the Premier League’s dominance, history and status still serve as levelers when it matters. This may have been just the smallest of pebbles on the road, but Arsenal’s crowning as a contender will have to wait a little longer.
