The defeat against the Portuguese representative in the first leg of the 1/8 round of the Champions League is a big lesson for Mikel Arteta and his students.
After many years, Arsenal has the opportunity to breathe in the Champions League knockout round. Although they were rated much higher, they suffered an embarrassing defeat to Porto with a score of 0-1 in the first leg in Portugal.
The Gunners will have the opportunity to turn the situation around when they play at home in the second leg taking place 3 weeks later. However, before thinking about that, Arteta needs to learn profound lessons from the recent defeat if he does not want to stop early in the eighth round. Watch Arsenal live on flysport.tv.
Here are 4 things to see from the Gunners’ recent loss:
David Raya is the weak point
In the 90+4 minute, Galeno curled a beautiful shot into the net while Raya was helpless. Possessing a height that is considered modest for a goalkeeper position at only 1.83m, the Spanish player wished he could be a little taller so that his arm span would be able to block the shot from hitting the edge of the post. this vertical.
Basically, Raya is still more useful to Arsenal than Aaron Ramsdale this season, but his height is a significant weakness. Opponents will certainly exploit this and the Gunners should have appropriate defensive calculations to limit that if they want to advance deep in the Champions League. Watch Arsenal live on Flysport.
Lack of depth in attack
Obviously, everyone knows that Arsenal’s attacking quartet this season revolves around only 5 names with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli being the 3 solid spots, the remaining one is a choice between Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Jesus. Compared to other strong competitors, this is not enough.
It’s understandable that Mikel Arteta’s team doesn’t have flexibility and new options to find goals. There have been many suggestions that the Gunners need a classy number 9 this summer, but a striker capable of playing wide should also be considered. Watch Arsenal live on flysport.tv.
Arteta’s position in Europe
This Spanish strategist deserves recognition for turning Arsenal from a ruin into one of the most powerful teams in Europe. However, his performance in the continental arena is really poor.
Arsenal were eliminated from the Europa League by Olympiakos in 2020 in the round of 32. A year later, they continued to be defeated by Unai Emery’s Villarreal after two matches in the semi-finals. Last season, the Emirates Stadium team was eliminated by Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16.
Arsenal is slowing down
In the group stage, Arsenal only won one match away from home and this has caused them to continue to choose a cautious attitude when playing guests of Porto. However, it is this plan that has caused the Gunners to lose their strengths in recent times, which is fast play and pre-emptive play.
Arsenal played very slowly in the recent defeat, they didn’t even have a shot on target. After the match, Arteta said that only his team wanted to play football, but Porto coach Sergio Conceicao immediately responded: “They want to play and we want to win“. Obviously, victory is the ultimate goal and Arsenal should act to capture it in the second leg. Watch Arsenal live on Flysport.