18 December 2023 , 16:08
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Arsenal sporting director Edu has urged the Gunners to have their wits about them as they look to avoid a second straight European exit against Portuguese opposition.
Last season's meeting with Sporting CP in the Europa League round of 16 was hugely damaging for Mikel Arteta's side. Not only were they eliminated by Ruben Amorim's side, with Gabriel Martinelli missing a decisive spot-kick in a penalty shoot-out, but they lost key men William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu to injury.
While Sporting remain in the Europa League this year, Arsenal are playing Champions League football after finishing second behind Manchester City in last season's Premier League table. Another trip to Portugal awaits, though, with Arteta's men facing Porto in a repeat of a memorable game in the same round of the 2009-10 tournament.
“We are going to play against a club that is very used to playing in the competition because they play in it every single year and they have a lot of players as well with big experience," Edu, who was present for the draw in Switzerland, told club media. “We have to understand how are we going to play and respect them as much as we can. We will play our game and see if we can go through this stage.
“We can see how they are playing, how organized they are, and the players that they have. Porto is a club that you have to be really prepared to play against or we’ll have problems, so what we have to concentrate on is maintaining our levels and the way we are playing.”
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Porto finished second in their Champions League group behind Barcelona, taking 12 points from their six games. They needed a result on matchday six to secure their progress but got one in style, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 in a winner-take-all game at Estadio Dragao.
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Gabriel Martinelli missed from the spot against Sporting last season (Getty Images)Last season, Arsenal boss Arteta made his feelings clear after the Sporting setback. The Gunners continued to name strong sides in Europe as they chased silverware on two fronts, ultimately falling short.
“Huge blow obviously,” Arteta told broadcaster BT Sport after last season's European exit. “There were moments, especially in the first 75 minutes, when we weren’t at our level.
"We gave every single ball away and we didn’t have the capacity to dominate the game and take the game where we wanted. Then the last 15 minutes we had the chances and in extra-time the chances to win it, and when it goes down to penalties it’s a lot of uncertainty.”
The first leg of Porto v Arsenal will be hosted by the former on February 21. Sergio Conceicao's team will then make the trip to London on March 12, some 14 years on from a 5-0 hammering against Arsene Wenger's Arsenal which saw them eliminated from that season's Champions League.