Arsenal’s return to the Champions League in 2023/24 has gone swimmingly by and large and there’s major optimism in north London over a long run in this season’s competition.
The Gunners charged through the group stage as they topped a set of teams including PSV Eindhoven, Lens and Sevilla to reach the knockout stages, where they will first meet Porto in the last 16.
The Portuguese side have had their peaks and troughs in European competition and while a repeat of their heroics in 2004 under Jose Mourinho is unlikely, Porto have still beaten sides like Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus in the Champions League in recent years.
Back under legendary manager Arsene Wenger, a first ever competitive meeting between Arsenal and Porto resulted in a straightforward Champions League win for the home side.
A starting XI including Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Jens Lehmann and Gilberto Silva among other stars proved too strong for the Portuguese visitors.
Henry headed in the opener in the 38th minute, with Aleksandr Hleb wrapping up the points from the Frenchman’s assist early in the second half.
Arsenal got their 2008/09 campaign in Europe underway with a comfortably pumping of Porto at the Emirates.
The Gunners rode their luck early on as Cristian Rodriguez’s header hit the woodwork and Lisandro’s effort was cleared off the line, but strikes from Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor had the home side 2-0 up by half-time.
Legendary Dutch forward Van Persie nabbed his second in the 48th minute before strike partner Adebayor also secured a brace, firing in a penalty after Nicklas Bendtner had been fouled.
Arsenal went through a lot of goalkeepers in the early 2010s and it was Lukasz Fabianski in net as things went wrong in the first leg of this last-16 tie.
The future Swansea and West Ham stopper bundled Silvestre Varela’s cross into his own goal before centre-back Sol Campbell headed in the equaliser from a corner.
Tomas Rosicky was denied a penalty and it proved costly on the night as Radamel Falcao poked home to hand Porto a slight advantage before they headed to London.
As well as Falcao, Porto’s side contained cult figures like Hulk, Raul Meireles and Varela, but they came undone in the return leg as Arsenal dominantly secured a quarter-final place.
Bendtner was one of the heroes, scoring twice in the first half to wipe out the Gunners’ deficit from the first meeting.
Samir Nasri struck a wonderful solo effort before Emmanuel Eboue quickly made it 4-0, finishing off a brisk counter-attack. There was enough time for Bendtner to record his first senior hat-trick with a penalty in the 91st minute.
Arsenal vs Porto: Complete H2H record
Top scorers in Arsenal vs Porto fixtures
|
Player |
Team represented |
Goals |
|---|---|---|
|
Nicklas Bendtner |
Arsenal |
3 |
|
Emmanuel Adebayor |
Arsenal |
2 |
|
Robin van Persie |
Arsenal |
2 |