David Raya was the hero for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta’s side secured a place in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 courtesy of a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Porto.
While Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice kept their cool from the spot, the Spain international did his bit making two fine stops to deny Brazilian pair Wendell and Galeno.
The Gunners had levelled the tie on 41 minutes when Leandro Trossard calmly slotted home but they struggled to create further clear-cut chances on a night when their Portuguese opponents used every trick in the book to slow the game down. Anyway, f*ck ’em, we’re through and they ain’t.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits and stattos had to say at the end of an emotionally draining evening at Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta on a tough and tense match…
Magic, what we expected, a really tough opponent, really well organised, very difficult to generate constant momentum in the game in the way they play and that’s credit to them. We did it, we scored a beautiful goal, they insisted in different ways, in the way the game allowed as well, and it’s such a huge experience for us. We had to do it at the end with the penalties, we prepared well, and credit to the coaches as well for the way they did it and obviously for David [Raya]. He had some difficult moments to start but he stood up, had an incredible personality and ambition, and at the end he got rewarded with his moment.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Sérgio Conceição on the defeat and an altercation with Arteta…
The result was unjust. The team [Porto] deserved to go through. What Arteta said, towards the bench in Spanish, he insulted my family. He should focus on training his team.
Source: Post-game press conference
During Extra Time:
Arsenal (0.03) 0-0 (0.04) Porto
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) March 12, 2024
David Raya on Arsenal progressing to the quarter-finals…
The team played really, really well. The main thing is that we kept a clean sheet, but we scored a goal and got through. It means everything to be in the quarter-finals; you play football for these kinds of things. I’m over the moon.
Source: Uefa.com
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Porto’s Pepe on defeat…
It’s a shame to be eliminated like that, but that’s part of football. We were a team that gave Arsenal a hard time, starting with our home game.
Source: Uefa.com
Raya 🤝 Ramsdale pic.twitter.com/yUzov9joUF
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 12, 2024
Raya on being prepared for penalties…
I should have saved three, but I’m over the moon to save two. We played a really good game from the start. We dominated, created chances and it went down to penalties. We’ve worked a lot on penalties this year and all the hard work with the goalie coach and the team has paid off.
Source: TNT Sports
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Bukayo Saka on David Raya’s contribution…
I knew it was going to be a special night here. The fans gave us everything and we gave them everything back. David Raya was brilliant; credit to him, he basically won us the game with those two stops.
Source: TNT Sports
Arsenal have won 11 of their last 14 penalty shootouts.
A long way from the trauma of the 1999-2000 season where we lost in a shoot out in all three cup competitions.#ARSPOR
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) March 12, 2024
Martin Keown on how this helps Arsenal ahead of a trip to Manchester City…
What it means is momentum. And it means that the Arsenal now can go into that Man City game going full of confidence. It’s the lion’s den, we know what they’ve achieved, six trophies is it last year, Man City is the ultimate team. But hey’re now really confident and in good form. I think it would have been a bit of a downer, if they’d have lost this tonight.
Source: TNT Sports
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Thierry Henry on walking off knowing Galeno would miss…
The way he put the ball down, it looked suspicious to me. So I left.
Source: TNT Sports (via Evening Standard)
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Ex-Gunner Matthew Upson on an important experience for the Gunners…
Yes this result itself is massive, but the fallout overall is even bigger. In the Premier League and in the rest of this competition, there are a lot of positives for Arsenal to take. This experience, winning a penalty shootout against tough, wily opponents like Porto and coming through it, they will have gained so much from this match.
Source: BBC Radio 5 Live
Mikel Arteta has now beaten 41 of the 43 sides he has faced as #Arsenal manager with the only two exceptions being Villarreal (D1 L1) and Sporting CP (D2).
— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) March 12, 2024
David Raya on the contribution of the supporters…
The fans have been fantastic; they’ve been fantastic for a long time. Especially today, we needed them. They made some noise and got us through spells in which we needed them. They were there for us, and we were there for them. We had the fans behind our goal as well and that put a lot of pressure on them and that worked for us. I think that helped us to win the penalty shootout.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Mikel Arteta on what happened between him and Sérgio Conceição
No comment. Thank you very much.
Source: Post-game press conference
this passion shit is serious for saliba 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/WjUIQml6cC
— hａnａ (@bukayosolo) March 13, 2024
Love Saliba this passion shit is awesome for all of us
Here’s to quickly forgetting Conceição exists again.
What a little baby. You wanted to cheat and whine, and we wanted to win.
Even that cunt Pepe was classier in defeat than Cunteicao.
He complained about Tuchel and Chelsea insulting him in 2021, and about City and Pep in 2020.
Serial whiner, nothing new here.
I hope he stubs one of his little toes in the coming days to compound his misery.
I had to down vote this. You can’t wish a stubbed toe on any one.
Bad Karma.
Haha have a thumbs up back, fair point!
Cuntsaywho?
Sergio
Love this team!
I just watched! Phew bloody tense. We really struggled to maintain through the middle and we looked shakey against the break, but overall the better team on the night. Still felt like we needed zinny much earlier. Made it through a fucking huge tie! Let’s see how far we can go, I feel like that was a bit of a bogey to get past the round of 16 and now we can play! COYG!
What a horrid little deluded bellend Conceicao is.
Honestly! Thought Mourinho and Simeone were right t*ts, but this guy is a complete bellend. I can bet my all my chips that this dude was lying about Arteta insulting his family. What a complete tosser.
Yeah, there’s no way Arteta was randomly slinging insults about his family at him. He got beat fair and square and couldn’t take it.
In the stress of the moment, I can imagine Arteta letting slip one or two put@ madre, and the poor sensitive soul took them to heart.
To be fair “puta madre” is a tough one to take when your name is Conceição.
I struggle to imagine even that from him honestly. At most maybe Arteta said something about how his parents raised him after Conceicao might have shouted filthy swear words at the ref or our players.
I think you grossly underestimate Arteta’s own skills in the dark arts…
I’m pretty good at lip reading and I’m pretty sure I saw Mikel say:
“tu madre usa botas del ejército”…
His son is one of his players. Maybe Arteta said something insulting (and true) about the kid pretending to be injured. So that would be insulting his family, especially if you are trying to take things out of context, distract people from what happened, or are generally a prick. Or all three.
Mourinhoesque.
Henry is on the US CL coverage. He always discusses Arsenal as WE. Love him
Henry is amusing and thoughtful.
I just LOVE that about him! 💖
In 2020, Conceicao also accused Pep Guardiola of being “unpleasant” and using “ugly words” during a defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League.
From BBC: seems like he’s got previous…
And Tuchel in 2021.
Pep probably said “guys, they played so good. So good.” But he had a smirk on his face.
We only played 2 games against them but that manager already has Mournho level unlikeability.
The Spuds next manager in waiting…..
Goodness me, football. I fully expected this to be one of our most difficult games of the season and it duly delivered. Porto squeezed every ounce out of themselves in this game to the point that they looked our equals for most of the night. They were nearly flawless tactically, physically and their work rate was incredible. Like Brentford, they studied every detail of how Arsenal play. Every little thing. We managed to get the right result in the end but holy smokes, it was by a hair’s breadth. From an Arsenal tactical point of view, it was the same… Read more »
If there is a “secret” to CL ties, it’s this – don’t lose. That’s why there is typically less attacking threat at these stages. You have to stay in it. I would always take the second leg at home for the penalty advantage of having your own crowd.
Sérgio Conceição is an incredibly sore loser.
Conceiçãor grapes.
BIG WILLY
Prior to this tie, I’d never heard of Conceição. Now I just wish I’d never heard of him. What a nasty, small-minded, childish little cunt.
Galeno on having more CL trophies than Arsenal: abujubujubuju 😂
Yes, Arteta might have insulted his family but the question we have to ask is : did his family deserve it? I’ve never known Arteta to do something without a reason.
Porto’s coach made allegations about Pep being “ugly” and using “unpleasant words” after City beat them in 2020.
It seems he isn’t going to be the next Jose.
I would say his family probably dont deserve it, or at least there is no way for Arteta to know if they do. I would also question whether Arteta said that at all.
The coach’s son play 101 minutes last night. So maybe Arteta did know something about him.
I’ve been saying for years that Arteta is definitely the type to denigrate an opponent’s family. “But Arteta is so classy” people said. “He’s so earnest yet funny” other people said. It drove me crazy! So I’m glad we finally get the truth about Arteta’s true character from some sour grape assed Cunty McCuntface manager with his “wily”band of diving douchebags. Arteta out!
Celebrated like they made it to the last 8 in Europe, completely ridiculous!
Get down the tunnel!
Conceição will end up at Chavski just like that other Portuguese bell
Every player needs a big moment to gain the love and trust of Arsenal fans. It is Raya’s tonight.
10/10 for all the Sérgio Conceição haters and comments. Couldn’t help laughing reading them.
Tu madre era un hámster y tu padre olía a bayas de saúco.
Wow! I can’t get the accusation by Sérgio Conceiçāo out of my mind. Does Arteta cut the picture of one who would abuse a fellow manager’s family – even in the heat of battle? Or is it the dark arts of Porto taken too far?
That is a worrisome and potentially damaging allegation – for Arsenal and Arteta – there from the Porto manager. Methinks it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet.
I have always thought of Arteta as a decent, well-mannered gentleman. This came as a shock to me really. Arteta should clear the air one way or another.
Porto boss using post-game distraction. He can fuck off.
Maybe he was raised by Wolves?
Post-game distraction by basically impugning the character of a fellow manager? That is strange.
He has a track record of it.
“Arsenal club sources have said that Arteta denies the accusations.”
BBC
I am satisfied…and relieved.
I would argue that one man doing something he has done several times before is considerably less strange than another man doing something he has never done before.
Arteta has no responsibility to address the statements made by a sniveling, cheating little bastard of a coach who is the son of a whore.
This is in bad taste. Are you certain man deserves such undignifying expletives?
Having watched “All or Nothing”, I knew Arteta could have a filthy mouth but he is a great manager.
You are invariably saying there is a possibility he actually did what he’s being accused of.
I don’t warm up to people with filthy mouths no matter how good they are at what they do. It’s a character flaw.
It fucking well is not!
“I don’t warm up to people with filthy mouths no matter how good they are at what they do.”
That’s Blogs himself written off then. Why are you partaking on Arseblog BTL let alone reading Arseblog at all?
Sérgio Conceição, how pathetic. His team got away with blue murder in two games and he has the temerity to sulk like a toddler when he loses. Judging by his behaviour the only insult to his family seems to be him.
I also hope I never have to see Pépé’s face ever again. If ever there was a player I wanted to see retire, it’s him. The most colossal cheat and a head like a child’s face grafted onto a peanut found down the back of a sofa.
If Sérgio Conceição had pulled off a rubber face in Mission Impossible style at the end to reveal Jose Mourinho i wouldnt have been surprised! Nasty manager of a cynical nasty team, Jose would have been proud. On a positive note its great experience for Arsenal to play and beat teams like that when they come across them.
The Porto manager is one sore loser dude. Stuff him, we’re through and he isn’t. Cheers
Shoutout to ex england intl keeper Rob Greene, who was addressed as such no less than 20 times yesterday by Clive Tyldesley. They were both willing us to lose. Robbie boy was dead silent for our equalizer. Had to let Clyde do the talking there. I hope they call our next tie to watch them squirm again.
I had to suffer through it as well, had their lucky arsenal heroic little porto narrative going from the kickoff.
This Porto team reminds me of Mourinho’s Inter team that won the thing. Hard to beat, dirty, boring and a bit nasty. This win I think is better than people are making it out to be
The refereering last night (Turpin is one of the most experienced in Europe) was … bizarre. And yet – without his laissez-faire attitude, I wonder if we would be even more frustrated with Porto’s performance? He basically let most things go, which would have been awarded with a foul even in the Premier League. I think the annoying thing was that when he did blow up it was sometimes for unpredictable things, and it seemed like most of those went against us. But since he hardly ever blew – it didn’t make much difference. If he’d been more fussy it… Read more »
There were 38 fouls called. I wouldn’t say that’s “letting most things go.” The astonishing thing was how many times Porto players tried for foul decisions in addition to the ones that WERE called. I was told that with the 36 fouls in the first leg, that’s the most in a CL tie since 2013.
He let a lot go, but I think it was actually fairly predictable. He was determined to be very sparing on yellow cards for players (all three he did show were not only justified, but really required) and he made it very clear he did not want the players’ opinion about his decisions. That came off as annoyingly prickly–but I am certain that it was Porto’s players, not ours, who would have surrounded him and argued every call. “Shut up, get away from me, and get on with it” was his attitude, and it helped us a lot more than… Read more »
I should add there was another bizarre feature, though it was irrelevant. A lot of times, he blew his whistle and then raced toward the scene of the foul in a way that means either that a referee will show a card or that he needs to intervene to prevent something from jumping off. But he was just racing to the scene. Okay.
Listen dude, he’s got a step count to fulfill from his doc and a few breathing techniques. So, you exhale first (whistle) and then run.