(Football news) After finishing second in Group H behind Barcelona, Sergio Conceicao’s squad made it into the knockout stages. The Gunners defeated Group B to set up a rematch with them.
Because Benfica and Braga finished third in the Champions League group stage, they were forced to continue their continental campaigns in the Europa League. As a result, Porto is the only Portuguese team remaining in Europe’s top competition and has advanced to the elimination rounds six times in the previous seven seasons.
Group H largely followed the script, as Porto clinched second place behind Barcelona thanks to four wins from four against Royal Antwerp and Shakhtar Donetsk, and even though they possessed a superior goal difference to the La Liga champions, their inferior head-to-head record saw them settle for the runners-up spot.
On account of their 12-point haul, the Primeira Liga titans have another chance to right several wrongs in the Champions League, having failed to progress further than the last eight since the 1993-94 tournament, and their 2022-23 tournament ended at this stage courtesy of a 1-0 aggregate loss to Inter Milan.
Seven of Porto’s last eight Champions League knockout ties against English opposition have also seen the Portuguese outfit eliminated, although the one time they did manage to send a Premier League team packing – sinking Manchester United in the last 16 in 2004 – they famously went on to conquer the continent.
Fast-forward 20 years, and Conceicao’s team host Arsenal on a 10-game unbeaten run across all tournaments at the Estadio do Dragao, most recently easing past Estrela Amadora 2-0 in Saturday’s Primeira Liga affair, which saw the Dragons record their fifth successive clean sheet on home turf.
In addition, Porto’s last two home affairs in the Champions League have seen the Primeira Liga powerhouses notch seven goals – the same amount that they had amassed in their previous nine such affairs altogether – although shipping three to Shakhtar Donetsk saw them concede more in that one contest than any of their previous five UCL home games combined.
Also read: Barcelona will play Napoli in UCL
