Raya saves the day, White disappoints, and the Gunners embrace their identity in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal draw.
There was something that Mikel Arteta said following the buildup to the first leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarterfinal draw with Sporting that really struck me. In the aftermath of his side’s first consecutive loss of the season, the Gunners’ manager stated, “We didn’t deserve to lose the match at Southampton, but this is football and we get punished for things that are related to our identity.” He then added, “That’s the thing we need to defend in the strongest possible way, because that’s the reason we are where we are today.”
Indeed, that seemed to be Arteta’s charge to his players in the pre-match presser ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Sporting:
“I think when you have the opportunity that we have, that has to be taken through excitement, through preparing yourself in the best possible way to focus on the present and the things that we have to do. Especially in our identity, being very clear what is taking us on the way to where we are. That’s where we have to focus.”
Honestly, I can see his point. The last couple times we’ve seen Arsenal ahead of Tuesday, they haven’t really looked like Arsenal. At least, not like the one that currently sits nine points ahead of Manchester City in the Premier League table. They’ve been a neutered version of themselves, lacking the things that have made them great and watching helplessly as their worst qualities have been exploited.
In the Carabao Cup final, City latched onto the Gunners’ lack of quality at times in buildup, particularly without David Raya as the self-proclaimed “first line of attack”. Pep Guardiola set up a four-man screen up front and glued his midfield and defense together, removing the ball over the top as a viable strategy and forcing Arsenal’s back five to try to play inch-perfect passes. Which they couldn’t.
At Southampton, Arsenal were without a core piece of their identity under Arteta: an airtight defense that simply makes scoring against the Gunners a Herculean ask. A back five made up of Gabriel and rotation options, with Christian Nørgaard at the base of midfield, couldn’t contend with the Saints’ attack. Even worse, Arsenal’s defenders insisted on making blunders that handed their hosts golden opportunities to score.
It just wasn’t the Arsenal we’ve come to expect this season — practical, intent on nullifying opponents, and yes, a little dull at times. But also, quite effective.
The players themselves seemed to understand that as well. After the match, Daniel Sturridge asked Raya during an interview with TNT Sports, “What is the emphasis for you to make sure you get over the line?” The Arsenal keeper responded, “Just being ourselves, just try to go back to what we are.”
It was yet another indication that at Sporting on Tuesday night, Arteta’s message was received loud and clear. The Gunners got back to what they do best. They kept the ball (Arteta’s men finished with 56% possession) and, sometimes frustratingly, didn’t take many risks in possession. They won their duels, snapped onto second balls, and exerted their physical superiority in defense. And, when it was necessary, their starting goalkeeper pulled off excellent saves.
For the most part, Arsenal kept the game as uneventful as possible. While Sporting, who haven’t lost a game at home in any competition since the end of August, were able to break and create some dangerous moments, the match didn’t turn into a basketball game. The Gunners controlled the match for the most part, were content to return to the Emirates level, and ultimately nicked a win at the end while expending far less energy than they could have.
And even then, this isn’t the dominant Arsenal side we saw in the fall, that easily held teams at arms’ length. Sporting could and probably should be entering next week’s return leg with a lead. But such has been the Gunners’ style for the most part in this campaign; they play on the margins, grind out results, and move on to the next one. Which means that on Tuesday, we saw a much more familiar side.
Many fans will continue to battle against this truth, but here it is: the 2025/26 iteration of Arsenal will never be an expansive attacking side. You might have already realized this. After all, it is April.
But exciting, offensive football with flair and guile and the throwing of caution to the wind in order to score goals is simply not in this team’s DNA. If watching that is your main priority, the clash between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich was probably as fun for you as it was for Arsenal fans I saw tweeting about how they were watching that instead of their own team. Arteta’s men rely on graft, robustness, and savviness. They’re gritty. They’re committed. They don’t want to win prettily, they want to do it by any means necessary.
While the performance itself wasn’t exactly vintage, I feel that I witnessed a recommitment to those principles in Lisbon on Tuesday. Arsenal, on the cusp of a spiral, remembered who the hell they were and embraced it. They battled and rode their luck and snatched a very impressive result at the death, one that even PSG couldn’t manage less than three months ago. It may not be edge-of-your-seat stuff, but it’s what has worked so far this season. That’s the Arsenal I know.
As a result, they remain undefeated in the Champions League after 11 matches. They are, according to OptaJoe, the top-ranked team in Europe’s highest competition for goals conceded per game, xG against per game, shots on target faced per game, and minutes trailing. Despite disappointments in the domestic cups, Arsenal’s imperiousness in the continental tournament continues.
Now, their focus turns toward a titanic matchup at the weekend with Bournemouth. It and every other match the Gunners play for the remainder of the season will be absolutely critical. But if they keep staying true to themselves, I still think they can achieve something special.
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Ballers
David Raya
There’s nowhere else to start, really. If it weren’t for Raya, Arsenal would likely be faced with the prospect of having to overcome a deficit at the Emirates. The Spaniard was phenomenal on Tuesday, finishing with five saves that prevented 1.63 xGOT. The highlight was almost certainly his earliest big save, in which he tipped a close-range shot from Maxi Araújo onto the crossbar. Time and time again, he was called into action to prevent what seemed like a surefire goal. Time and time again, he bailed his team out.
He was also excellent on the ball. Raya completed 26 of 28 attempted passes, included three out of four long balls. He was critical in Arsenal’s attempts to play out from the back and offered one of the most secure alternatives on the ball for his teammates. As a result, the Gunners keeper ended the match with 48 touches.
Against the backdrop of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s disappointing performances in the previous two matches, Raya’s return to the lineup was a breath of fresh air. His national team can deny it all they want, but the Spaniard is one of the best keepers in the world right now. According to OptaJoe, Raya sports the most clean sheets in the Champions League as well as the best ratio of stopped shots on target in the competition (27 out of 30). He is simply a phenomenal custodian between the sticks, and Arsenal are lucky to have him.
William Saliba
The trick to recognizing a great Saliba game is realizing that nothing really happened in his area of the pitch. Up against Luis Suárez, who has stepped in and quickly replaced Viktor Gyökeres’ production for Sporting, the Arsenal center back kept the striker quiet without much drama. He won both of his aerial duels, three of his five ground duels, wasn’t dribbled past, and made six defensive contributions. If we’re being blunt, all Suárez could really do against the Frenchman was throw himself to the ground here and there to try and win a foul.
Saliba was also great on the ball, serving as Raya’s biggest competition for the title of most reliable Arsenal player in buildup. He finished the game with 99 touches, presiding over matters as the Gunners attempted to build out from the back. He completed 88 of 92 passes, hit his target with two of three long balls, completed six passes into the final third, and even managed a successful dribble on his own attempt. Saliba was a big part of Arsenal’s control in possession. All in all, it was another great outing for him.
Gabriel Martinelli
Martinelli is at his best when he’s decisive, when he gets the ball and already knows what he’s going to do with it. We saw that Martinelli on Tuesday. The Brazilian came on in the 76th minute, replacing a hobbling Leandro Trossard. Without much time left on the clock, he promptly got to work.
One of his first actions was to deftly play Riccardo Calafiori into a great position on the wing, from which the Italian really should have produced more with his cross. He also made a nice run into the half-space to receive the ball and quickly fire a shot at goal, which the Sporting keeper managed to hold onto. He also had another moment where he cleverly weaved out of trouble to get the ball to Declan Rice on the wing.
His main contribution, of course, came with his seventh and final touch. After receiving the ball on the left touchline, Martinelli burst past two Sporting players and drew another one toward home before exploiting the space left in behind. He lofted a lovely ball into Kai Havertz for to put the German one-on-one with Rui Silva before he coolly slotted home the stoppage time winner. It was an immensely productive cameo for the Brazilian, and a continuation of his impeccable form in the Champions League this season.
Declan Rice
I’m not sure how many people noticed it in real time, but I thought Rice was marvelous at Sporting. The Englishman won possession 13 times on Tuesday; according to OptaJoe, it was the most by an Arsenal midfielder in a Champions League knockout match since Arteta himself won possession the same number of times against Bayern Munich in 2013. Defensively, Rice led the way, finishing with the most ball recoveries and the most interceptions in the match.
On the ball, he was also great. His 99% pass accuracy was the best on the pitch. He attempted the second-most passes, completed the second-most passes, and created the most chances of any player on the pitch.
Genuinely, he seemed to be everywhere. Sometimes he was the last line of defense, racing a Sporting player to a ball rolling toward his own third. Other times, he was intercepting a ball in the hosts’ half as they attempted to play out. And in addition to those, he was charging through the middle on the ball or holding off contact in the center of the pitch as he laid off a pass to a teammate.
But perhaps the most impressive part of his performance was that he did not seem to be at full power. He made sprints, he covered ground, sure, but he didn’t have that Energizer Bunny quality about him. He wasn’t brimming with energy the way he typically is. And yet, he ground it out and produced a spectacular performance. So I must tip my cap to him.
Fallers
Ben White
At this point, I feel like I’m targeting White a little. Which I hate doing — he is genuinely one of my favorite players in this squad. For what it’s worth, I liked this performance more than his showing at Southampton, as low a bar as that may be. In Lisbon, he seemed more focused.
But on Tuesday, he continued to annoy me. A lot of his passing, especially up the flank, just felt sloppy. He would often attempt to ping a ball forward only for it to be intercepted by a Sporting player. He was also dispossessed twice. And White showed very little chemistry with Noni Madueke on the day, which contributed to the several instances of lost possession. He attempted only one cross and it was wayward.
Additionally, I think he struggled again defensively. He was utterly bamboozled by Ousmane Diomande’s luscious ball over the top to Araújo, and White could not stop the Uruguayan from getting his shot off at goal. It wasn’t the last time Araújo got in behind, either. I hate to stick the boot in like this, but I really hope Jurriën Timber is available this weekend.
Leandro Trossard
I don’t remember much about Trossard’s performance. And that’s essentially the problem for me. The Belgian started the match and played 76 minutes without impacting it. I was actually quite happy to see him in the lineup, because I thought he would offer a counterbalance to Gyökeres’ and Madueke’s lack of security on the ball.
But in the end, he didn’t achieve much. Trossard did not create a single chance in this game. He only took two shots; one was from a very speculative distance and was blocked by a defender, while the other one saw the winger receive the ball in a nice pocket in the half-space before he scuffed his attempt wide. He was otherwise solid in possession, but he just didn’t produce anything particularly useful. In the meantime, Martinelli created the winning goal within 15 minutes of being introduced.
Trossard has yet to score a goal in 2026. Which is concerning. Not only has he been one of Arsenal’s top contributors in terms of goals and assists, but he has gone cold at exactly the wrong time. Arsenal are doubtlessly going to shake things up at left wing this summer, and the Belgian is not making the best case for the Gunners to keep him on.
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