William Saliba has now sent Arsenal a warning about FC Porto ahead of the Gunners hosting the Portuguese team in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
The Dragoes visit Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night and will travel with a 1-0 advantage on aggregate. Porto secured a slender advantage from the reverse tie on February 21 as Galeno curled in a precise, curling shot. He finessed past goalkeeper David Raya in the 93rd minute.
Porto scored in the final seconds after Gabriel Martinelli cheaply turned over the possession as Arsenal tried to counter. Centre-half Otavio easily intercepted the Brazilian’s long switch intended for Martin Odegaard and fed Galeno, who took advantage as Declan Rice stood off.
Arsenal must repeat their 2010 Champions League tie vs FC Porto
Losing at the Estadio do Dragao even meant Arsenal have still never won away to Porto after four visits. The Gunners drew back in 2006 before enduring defeats in 2008, 2010 and 2024. But Arsenal have so far always beaten Porto in north London and are yet to concede a goal.
Manager Mikel Arteta will now need his Gunners to repeat what Arsene Wenger’s squad did in 2010, too. Arsenal bounced back from a 2-1 defeat at Porto in the first leg of their last 16 tie to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a 5-0 win at Emirates Stadium.
William Saliba warns Mikel Arteta’s side about Porto’s ‘smart’ antics
But centre-half Saliba warns Arsenal that Porto are a ‘smart’ side and that the Gunners must be ready for whatever antics Sergio Conceicao’s side try to utilise. His Dragoes counterpart, Pepe, is notorious for the three-time Champions League winner’s arguably divisive methods.
“We know they are smart,” Saliba said, via quotes by the Mirror. “We have to compete with that but we will be ready.”
Saliba is not writing off Arsenal’s hopes of making the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 when they face Porto, though. The 22-year-old pillar of Arteta’s side believes the Gunners have been ‘horrible’ for any opponents of late given their superb form.
Saliba continued: “I think we were horrible [to play against] in the last seven or eight games. Now, we have to keep going like this.”
Porto are the only side to deny Arsenal since the Gunners lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup on January 7. Arteta’s team have won have each of their other eight encounters during that period. The Gunners have also scored 33 goals to only four conceded in the Premier League.
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