Porto star Pepe claims his side completely ‘neutralised’ £30m Arsenal star last night

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FC Porto captain Pepe has now made a bold claim saying his side completely nullified a certain Arsenal attacker last night.

Porto proved incredibly tough opposition for Mikel Arteta over the two legs, and Sergio Conceicao’s team came close to dumping Arsenal out of the competition.

However, Arsenal showed the strength of their mindset when it came to the penalty shootout, dispatching all four penalties with confidence to then watch David Raya send them through.

Although it was one full of stress and nerves, it turned out to be a brilliant night for Arsenal at the Emirates, one that will live long in the memory.

That being said, Porto’s 41-year-old captain, who has now played in the Champions League an incredible 120 times, did think his side were able to limit a key Arsenal player.

Speaking to Record after losing the two-legged tie, Pepe said that his Porto side completely stopped Martin Odegaard having his usual influence between the lines.

Pepe said his team showed a ‘mature attitude’ throughout and stopped Arsenal playing in their usual way.

Pepe said Porto completely nullified Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard last night

Speaking after the match, Pepe was asked what was missing from Porto’s game.

He replied: “It’s easy. It was to have scored the goals on penalties. 

“Both teams worked hard, we neutralised Arsenal’s game a lot, we can’t forget that they are a great team and that they score a lot of goals in the Premier League.

“We came here to play our game, we neutralised Odegaard’s game between the lines.

“The team had a very mature attitude on the field, knowing what they were doing, but unfortunately we couldn’t score.

“The game went to extra time and then on penalties they had that extra point.”

Of course, Pepe does seem to be forgetting the moment when Martin Odegaard brilliantly slipped Leandro Trossard in on the Porto goal to put Arsenal 1-0 up.

Admittedly, Porto did a brilliant job at stopping Arsenal playing their game, it must have been as frustrating to play against as it was to watch.

But Odegaard was still fantastic in moments, and Porto ultimately weren’t able to stifle the £30m-man enough.

That being said, Kai Havertz nearly matched a astonishing Arsenal record set by Shkodran Mustafi last night.