Arsenal 0 Sporting CP 0

Arsenal v Sporting CP

Wednesday April 15th, 2026

Champions League Quarter Finals second leg

The Emirates 

The warm up

Since I started writing these matchday posts this will be the first occasion with a two legged Champions League tie where I've started out on the second leg post actually feeling quite buoyant. Not because I think we're about to waltz over to North London and cause serious carnage, merely that the two previous posts against BVB and Bodø/Glimt felt like trying to sell snow to the Eskimo's. Why was I even bothering to write either? It's not like I get paid anything for doing them. 

I write the afternoon after the first leg in the Estádio José Alvalade and spoiler alert if you don't want to know the score look away now. OK maybe that joke doesn't work well in print. Anyways the lions are going into the second leg only 1-0 down instead of their customary 3-0 deficit. Perhaps this time around I can give you the possibility of some optimism for the second leg. We shall see. 

Naturally conceding in the first minute of additional time felt like a kick in the teeth but it's fair to suggest that my teeth have taken harder kicking’s than that over the years. If I were to go into the finer detail of the budgets of the two clubs then we could be here all day so I'll try my best to make my next point as brief as possible. Regular readers have just gone to make a cup of tea already thinking here we fucking go. 

Below are the transfer fees and total outlay for Sporting's starting XI last night. 

Rui Silva €4m

Fresneda €9m

Diomande €14.5m

Inácio Homegrown

Araújo €13.73m

Trincão €18m

Morita €3.5m

Simões Homegrown 

Gonçalves €13.5m

Geny €2.4m

Luís Suarez €22.95m

Total €101.58 m

On current exchange rates Declan Rice alone would be the equivalent outlay of €120.72m. Had Hjulmand not been suspended and played instead of Simões we'd still only get to a total of €119.58m, still not quite the cost of just Declan Rice alone. You can see where I'm going with this already I'm sure. Bukayo Saka (who was missing from Arsenal's starting XI) is reputedly paid £15.6 million per annum. Geny as an equivalent position is paid €400k per annum. Even Trincão's reported new wage deal as the lion's highest paid player would be considered pocket change for the Gunners. 

The lions are a Sociedade Anónima Desportiva (SAD). Arsenal are owned by Stan Kroenke who is reported by Forbes to be worth €22.2 billion. The gross transfer spending under Arteta since December 2019 has reportedly topped £1 billion. In layman's terms the lions are at their foundation a fan owned club, Arsenal are backed by a billionaire with additional revenues from the world's richest league. The wealth disparity between the two clubs is quite frankly night and day. 

If Arsenal are shopping in Waitrose then the lions are basically shopping in the special’s aisle of your local Aldi supermarket. Discounting the home grown players who started these are the clubs each player was signed from.

Silva - Real Betis 

Morita - Santa Clara 

Gonçalves - Famalicão 

Suarez - Almería 

Geny - Black Bulls 

Fresneda - Valladolid 

Araújo - Toluca 

Diomande - Midtjylland

Trincão - Barcelona 

Throw in the fact that both Sporting's substitutes used last night in Daniel Bragança and Rafael Nel are homegrown academy players and the club captain Hjulmand, who'll come back in for the return leg came from Lecce. Barcelona and Real Betis are the only two names likely to be familiar to the average football fan and let's not kid ourselves here, it's not like we've signed some of their most established players in the cases of Silva and Trincão, albeit both are Portuguese internationals. Arsenal of course signed Sporting's top striker Viktor Gyökeres in the summer weakening their team, albeit they appear to have completely broken him but that's a sidebar. 

It should be noted that Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was the UCL man of the match. The BBC's headline post game asked the question of whether Raya is the best goalkeeper in the world? Is he? I don't know but he pulled off terrific saves to first push Araújo's goal bound effort onto the bar and secondly to keep out Geny's header which was sneaking into the bottom right hand corner. 

Opta have revised their Xg for the game today to 1.33 for Arsenal but it's worth noting 0.75 was from the Havertz goal and 0.44 from a Gyökeres effort that my Nan could have saved and a blocked header in the 14th minute they didn't see fit to include at the time but has been added back in when I looked today. 

Let's look at the total attempts against Sporting for each game in the Champions League in order from last night's game through to the opening group game. 

Arsenal 8

Bodø H 9

Bodø A 10

Athletic Club 9

PSG 27

Bayern 23

Club Brugge 8

Juventus 18

Marseille 10

Napoli 12

Kairat Almaty 9

We see that Arsenal along with Club Brugge came away with the lowest total attempts and let's be honest other than the goal itself (discounting the disallowed goal) Arsenal rarely threatened. In fact let's say over the course of the 90 minutes they didn't threaten at all because as we've established they scored after the final 90 was played. This should have been a tough game for the lions after all it's the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals and let's not forget that Arsenal topped the qualifying with 8 straight wins. 

Let's get real, this was not a classic performance from the lions by any stretch of the imagination and personally I think they were guilty of showing Arteta's side too much respect. I wouldn't have rated any of our players higher than a 6 or 7 out of 10. Yet all told, with everything above taken into account and added together, Arsenal managed to snatch a 1-0 win in the 90th minute playing the most turgid football we've seen from any side this season in the José Alvalade. Imagine paying a billion quid for an FA Cup win to create a suped up version of Santa Clara. Imagine having to pay £1,500 plus every season to watch that crap at home every week in a stadium nicknamed the Library. I'm sure it's cheaper to fly to Lisboa every other week and watch Sporting than to follow Arsenal at home for a season. 

If you're looking for omens, Bournemouth were the side that played Manchester City in the match before the famous 4-1 win in the José Alvalade and they will take on the Gunners in the lunchtime game on Saturday at the library. We've already learned you cannot discount this Sporting side having been comprehensively outplayed in Norway against Bodø/Glimt in the first leg, something we definitely couldn't say about the Gunners in last night's game. What followed was the 5-0 remontada to set up this game. Pulling a 1-0 scoreline back seems definitely more plausible to me that 3 goals to a side who'd played us off the park a week earlier ever did even if it is the Premier League leaders. 

Sporting as mentioned have their club captain back from suspension, an Arsenal fan from boyhood who comes with matching tattoo and having missed out on the World Cup, will be desperate I'm sure to put in a vintage performance to put him in the shop window of Europe's elite before he departs for destination unknown in the summer. 

Arsenal will have one eye on Manchester City the following weekend knowing that a loss there could jeopardise their chances of winning the Premier League, albeit I'll caveat that statement by assuming that City beat Chelsea away when they play on Sunday. If Bournemouth can get a positive result on Saturday lunchtime then the Gunners season would start to implode even more than the two results going into the first leg which saw them lose in the Carabao Cup to Manchester City and then in the FA Cup to Southampton. Sporting will most likely choose to rest several first team players against Estrela once more in their weekend game and Arsenal now don't have the luxury of doing that against either Bournemouth or the lions. Most importantly Sporting have previous form of going to the Emirates and coming away victorious on penalties, having equalised through the infamous Pedro Gonçalves lob over Aaron Ramsdale. Whilst the majority of faces have changed for the Gunners this was still a side that started with Gabriel and Saliba in the centre of defence and Jesus and Martinelli as part of a forward three. White, Trossard, Saka and Ødegaard all came off the bench in addition. As an example of how Portugal has to sell to survive, of Sporting's entire Matchday squad only Trincão, Gonçalves, Inácio, Diomande and Nuno Santos remain although technically Tanlongo forms part of the Sporting B squad. 

What the lions lacked last night was pace. We had it and we let it go to Napoli and you have to imagine that Alisson would have had a field day against Ben White last night. There's a distinct possibility that Araújo could have a field day in London. Sporting now have nothing to lose. There's no point sitting back, they need to go out swinging and if Arsenal tear them apart then so be it. But if they can reproduce what they did against Bodø/Glimt then they have more than a chance. The longer the game goes on without Arsenal finding the net the more anxiety will creep into their fans. Start in the same way as we did last night and this time find the net after five minutes and we'll see what Arteta's side are really made of. I'm not saying we'll win, far from it but it wouldn't be a massive shock all things considered if we did let's put it that way. I imagine after the 5-1 last season many Gunners fans will have envisaged that they simply had to turn up to roll us over again. It was no surprise to see many taking to social media with excuses in hand for a poor performance and a 1-0 win. Sporting had won 17 straight games at the José Alvalade. They had won all their home games in the Champions League.

You can bet your bollocks to a barn door they won't underestimate them in the return leg a week to day.

In the markets 

Arsenal 2/5

Draw 15/4

Sporting CP 6/1

Sporting to qualify in 90 minutes 20/1, Extra time 40/1 or on penalties 28/1. 

Team News 

Starting XI 

Silva, Quaresma, Diomande, Inácio, Araújo, Hjulmand, Morita, Geny, Trincão, Gonçalves and Suárez 

Substitutes 

Virgínia, Vagiannidis, Debast, Mangas, Kochorashvili, Bragança, Simões, Blopa, Quenda, Faye, Gonçalves and Nel

The big news is the withdrawal of Fresneda through injury with the Spanish U21 defender not even travelling to London. Definitely one of those players that you only really get to see what he brings to the code when he's missing. Let's not forget he covered 17kms in the second leg against Bodø/Glimt over the 120 minutes played. Eduardo Quaresma the choice in place at right back over the Greek Vagiannidis. Inácio and Diomande come back into the centre with Debast the other player to miss out. In the centre Morita returns for Bragança noting of course Hjulmand whilst he played against Estrela, missed the first leg through suspension and fulfills his boyhood dream of playing against the club whose crest he carries a tattoo of. On the bench Blopa returns from an injury hit season. 

Arsenal Starting XI 

1 Raya

3 Mosquera 

2 Saliba 

6 Gabriel

5 Hincapié

36 Zubimendi 

41 Rice

20 Madueke 

10 Eze

21 Martinelli

14 Gyökeres 

Three changes from the defeat to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday. Out go White, Lewis-Skelley and Havertz, goalscorer from the first leg in the José Alvalade. In come Mosquera, Hincapié and Eze.

First Half 

So for one side the last time they'll hear the Champions League theme this season. Arsenal with a tifo with a large Trossard at the top, his hands cupped around his eyes in a manner that will haunt my dreams tonight. 

The lions in their traditional green and white horizontal stripes. Arsenal players gather in one final huddle. Sporting get us underway and attack right to left. 

1 10 seconds on the clock and Quaresma already hurried into a mistake 

1 The lions with another error which sees them knock the ball out of play quickly followed by Morita losing the ball

1 Gyökeres can only find a Sporting shirt with his pass into the box. The Gunners with more in the opening 2 minutes than they showed over 90 in Lisboa 

2 Free kick in midfield which takes the Gunners the best part of 25 seconds to take. No wonder they call it NFL ball in these parts. They play in the wrong stadium given Spurs actually have the NFL pitch under their grass. Feels like a missed opportunity 

2 Suárez looks to carry the ball from midfield but easily dispossessed 

4 Arsenal with a series of 30 odd passes just to move some 18 yards up the field. Definitely NFL ball. I make that 3rd down and ten. 

5 Hincapié shot blocked from 18 yards. Eze with a wonderful turn to leave Araújo chasing shadows in the buildup

6 Quaresma with a perfect timed tackle concedes a corner far side

6 Corner goes out for a goal kick and wow it's like someone turned the volume from 20 to 1

8 Morita with a beautiful little flick back to Araújo keeps possession for the lions under pressure 

8 A spell of possession for the best part of a minute from the lions ends with Quaresma knocking the ball out for a throw. Sporting have weathered the early storm 

9 Gonçalves tries to dance his way into the box but dispossessed inside the area 

10 All the noise coming from the Sporting fans 

10 Morita found Araújo with a long raking ball on the left but the Uruguayan slipped. Time to regain his footing but dispossessed and Eze sent away down the right and poor old Morita was again chasing shadows 

11 Rice shot blocked from 20 yards 

12 Geny loses Hincapié down the right, goes down in the box grabbing his leg. I couldn't see any contact at all

13 Break in play as Geny receives treatment 

14 Suárez hunts down Zubimendi and almost forced him into a mistake but he gets the ball back to Raya

15 Quaresma cuts out a long pass into the final third and the lions quickly spread the ball down the defensive line to nullify the danger 

16 Another deft touch from Morita in midfield. He's been superb in the opening third 

16 Offside flag up against Suárez who got a shot away from the left hand side of the box but went well wide of the right hand post of Raya

17 Lazy pass from Saliba cut out by Hjulmand who sent Trincão away. He slips as he tries from 14 yards and the ball ends up well wide of the left hand post. We're not going to get many chances so the minimum will be to ensure we're hitting the target 

18 Gyökeres turns and tries from 19 yards but the ball sails over the bar

19 Sporting fans bouncing in the away end 

20 Gonçalves with a kick in the shin of Madueke concedes a free kick 30 yards out 

21 Zonal marking once more from the lions

21 Arsenal go short and Eze shot blocked and the lions flew out the traps and the Gunners had Martinelli to thank as he dispossessed Geny 12 yards into the Arsenal half 

22 Gonçalves and Zubimendi come into contact with one another and the Portuguese down. Thankfully both players up

22 Rice struggling after contact with Hjulmand a minute ago

23 Morita fouls Madueke on the edge of the box. Dangerous position. The Japanese midfielder clearly thinks Madueke has conned the referee there. Contact was minimal 

24 Madueke curls the ball in from 22 yards and Rui Silva comes to claim 

26 Araújo wins a corner near side 

26 Arsenal clear as Sporting looked first for Suárez at the near post and then Hjulmand tries to make something happen with a header back into the box 

28 Inácio picks the pocket of Gyökeres. My heart rate went up there

29 Geny concedes a corner far side 

29 Rice finds Zubimendi whose tame header from past the far post goes straight into the arms of Silva 

30 Gonçalves snatches at a shot having been played clear by Trincão 

30 Diomande picks the pocket of Eze on the edge of the area 

31 Lovely ball out to the left tries to find Araújo and whilst the move broke down it certainly woke Mosquera up

32 Saliba concedes a free kick for pulling back Suárez 

32 Free kick 40 yards from goal. Trincão over the ball. Rice heads clear 

33 Rice applauded for running in a straight line across the pitch. Bizarre 

34 Eze and Gyökeres combine on the edge of the area but the Swede could only find a Sporting defender 

34 Cross from Martinelli on the left headed clear by Araújo 

35 Martinelli shot from 16 yards blocked 

36 Both sides have completed 90% of their passes 

36 Mosquera gets away with one as he throws himself to the floor under no contact from Araújo and the referee buys the dive and awards a free kick 

37 Araújo slips for the third time. Change of footwear might be a good idea second half 

38 I've seen crabs move sideways less than Declan Rice

38 Zubimendi with a run to the byline on the left puts the ball straight into the arms of Rui Silva 

39 Raya with a huge mistake gave it straight to Gonçalves who then somehow smashes it and misses Trincão open in front of him

40 Corner nearside punched clear by Silva 

41 Free kick in the centre for a hand into the face of Geny from Saliba. Come on Geny you're better than that 

42 Post from Geny. Araújo hung a cross up to the edge of the six yard box and his shot hit the far post. In the build up Suárez was bursting free and got his feet all wrong and the chance looked to have gone begging but the lions recycled the ball out to the left 

44 Trincão snapping away once more not afraid to do the hard work tracking back in support of the midfield 

Plus one shown 

45 Eze blasts over from 23 yards 

Arsenal 0 Sporting CP 0

Half time 

All square at the break. Geny's shot that hit the post the closest either side came to finding the opening goal. Rui Borges will be the happier of the two misters as the sides make their way off the pitch. Raya’s mistake at the back sadly wasn't capitalised upon but the message from Borges will surely be one of more of the same. The only time my heart rate increased was a turn from Gyökeres in the box and I was reminded of the player we sold in the summer that apparently the Gunners have failed to see any sign of since his signing. Arsenal certainly flew out the traps in the first two minutes and I did worry that we were about to be played off the park but the lions steadied their nerves and grew into the game. Hjulmand and Morita have been superb in midfield linking up play and breaking down attacks. The Dane with several blocks from shots from distance. At some point Sporting have to take one of their chances. No panic needed yet but Arsenal have the single goal lead from Lisboa.

Second half 

Arsenal back in their huddle. Sporting making their opponents wait. Arsenal get us back underway. No changes to either side. 

45 Eze tries to find Gyökeres at the far post, Rui Silva alert to the danger 

46 Sporting with patient buildup down the right just trying to find an opening 

47 Araújo cuts back inside and goes for the far post from 12 yards but no bend on the ball

48 Clumsy challenge from Araújo. Free kick wide right. Rice over the ball. Arsenal go short. Eze fires well wide from 22 yards of the far post. I thought Arsenal were supposed to be the kings of set pieces?

50 Trincão with a touch of the Neapolitans with his gestures of disbelief as he concedes a corner 

51 Rice puts the ball straight into the arms of Rui Silva

52 Shake of the head from Quaresma as his pass goes out for a throw on the near side half expecting Geny to have come back for the pass 

52 For the first time we see Sporting just put their laces behind the ball and send it clear 

53 Arsenal awful with their distribution from free kicks again and Sporting clear easily 

54 Quaresma under pressure from Martinelli kicks to touch 

55 Havertz about to come on for Arsenal 

55 Martinelli effort goes over from 16 yards 

55 ➡️⬅️ Gyökeres for Havertz 

56 Poor from Araújo, loses possession on the left. Ball broke to the left and Madueke with the final effort from 6 yards into the side netting. Big let off for the lions 

57 Morita with the sliding challenge wins possession back in midfield again 

57 Brilliant from Araújo and Madueke puts the ball out for a goal kick. There's a new sheriff in town and he's Uruguayan 

58 Clever step over from Geny allowed Quaresma to get forward but Morita's final pass can only find a red and white shirt 

59 Hjulmand with a clever pass to the edge of the box found Araújo. He set Trincão free but the Gunners cleared their lines 

59 Zubimendi concedes a corner far side 

60 Madueke down clutching his knee on the halfway line as the rest of the players wait for the corner to be taken 

62 ➡️⬅️ Madueke hobbles off far side. Dowman on

62 Gonçalves finds Morita whose flick goes straight out

63 Raya kicks the ball straight out of play. He's not had the game he did in Lisboa

64 Morita sends Dowman flying. Referee not interested 

64 Great ball from Morita to cut through Arsenal and found Geny who should have done better 

65 Geny shot blocked from 8 yards. Push into the back of Araújo and no penalty. Ends in a corner being awarded. We saw a Barca player sent off for exactly the same thing last night. That will be the talking point come the morning 

66 Araújo tries from 30 yards and brings a diving save from Raya low to his left 

67 Geny causing all sorts of issues down the right this half. Goes to the near post and Raya down smartly 

68 Quaresma clears from Martinelli 

68 Quenda and Bragança being readied on the bench 

69 Foul throw from Hincapié 

69 Play acting from Havertz goes down off the ball under the minimal contact from Diomande 

69 Arteta booked

70 ➡️ ⬅️ Bragança for Gonçalves and Quenda for Geny. The latter seems a strange choice as he was the main outlet for the lions this half 

71 Eze shanks one into the stands from the D

72 Havertz penalised for handball. He felt the foul was going to go his way as he fell on the ball 

72 Morita picks the pocket of Eze 

73 With seventeen minutes left can the lions fashion a decent chance and more importantly convert it otherwise they're going to leave kicking themselves? 

74 Quenda dives under minimal contact from behind and the referee makes the universal symbol to confirm why he's given Arsenal the free kick

75 Corner to Arsenal near side 

76 Rice finds Havertz at the edge of the six yard box. His header cleared for a corner far side by Quaresma 

76 Rui Silva punches clear from Dowman's corner. Referee blew for a foul

76 ➡️ ⬅️ Simões for Morita. What a performance by the Japanese. He has been incredible tonight 

78 ➡️ ⬅️ Eze for Jesus and Martinelli for Trossard 

78 Araújo booked as he catches the foot of Dowman 

79 Free kick close to the touchline far side 32 yards out. Rice over the ball

79 Havertz tries a back heel from six yards. Lions clear 

80 Suárez with a touch like a trampoline loses the ball. Oh how we could have done with Ioaniddis to knock it long to

81 You can tell why they call this ground the library 

82 Hincapié puts the ball straight out for a goal kick on the left 

82 Simões concedes a corner under pressure far side 

83 Dowman to take. Trossard heads against the post from 5 yards and the ball goes out to safety. That's the closest they've come all evening to breaking the deadlock. Silva was caught flat footed and had that been on target we'd have been in trouble

84 Jesus fires into the side netting from a narrow angle having got the better of Diomande

84 ➡️ ⬅️ Vagiannidis and Nel on for Trincão and Quaresma 

85 Bragança tries to float a ball to Araújo, headed clear 

86 Simões wraps his foot around the ball. Only the second time they've gone long 

87 Time slipping away now 

88 Arsenal playing keep ball down the left 

88 Sporting break but Arsenal back in numbers quickly 

89 Quenda cross headed clear

89 Araújo cross found Quenda who was falling backwards and conceded possession with his header

Plus four shown 

90 Vagiannidis concedes a throw and Arsenal in no hurry to take 

+1 Corner near side to Arsenal. More time wasting from Rice. Rice puts it straight out of play

+2 Fuck me Bragança sticks it out of play for a throw when trying to find Araújo 

+3 Jesus penalised for hand ball close to the half way line. Silva puts it long and Raya claims 

+3 Vagiannidis away down the right. Throw in the final third 

+4 Borges booked

+4 Simões finds the side net from 18 yards 

Full time 

Arsenal 0 Sporting CP 0

Aggregate score

Arsenal 1 Sporting CP 0

The final word 

Heartbreak in North London for the lions. Heroes one and all they can leave with their heads held high. They hit the post and should they have had a penalty for the push on Araújo inside the box in the second half? One moment of quality over 180 minutes the difference. Sporting applaud their fans in the corner. Some of the Arsenal fans dancing like they've won 4-0. That's the most we've heard and seen from them all evening. It's been an incredible run to get to this stage. They've got to pick themselves up for the Dérbi on Sunday. We've beaten PSG in this run. We've had the remontada. It just wasn't meant to be. 

Well that was disappointing. I have to admit I couldn't wait to turn the TV off. Not because of the lions performance or because of going out but my SL count hit a new all time high on TNT. From kick off to final whistle 66 times the presenters called us by the wrong club name and I'm sure they're still going now. The level of disrespect is unbelievable. It's not 1960 anymore. We've given the world the likes of Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Nuno Mendes and more. How hard is it not to add the word Lisbon behind Sporting? That utterly ruined any enjoyment I might have had from watching that game. Mind you Arsenal gave it a good go too. They were awful to watch over two legs of football. I've long given up watching Premier League football and never once regretted it. All the Podcasts this season have discussed the Gunners threat from set pieces. Really? What happened in the 180 minutes against us then? My Nan could have played in defence and she was about 4ft 10” tall. 

How things might have been different if Geny's shot hadn't of hit the post and I want to see that shove in the back of Araújo again because I cannot see the difference between that push and the one in the Barca - Atlético game last night. I don't want to suggest it would have been given if it happened at the other end but it wouldn't have surprised me. 

Before the game I stopped and had a chat with an Arsenal fan out walking his dog and he was bemoaning the quality of the football under Arteta and I felt better at least with him saying it because I don't feel so bad about confirming how fucking dreadful they are to watch. I wrote it above about seeing crabs go sideways less times but the point stands. Max Dowman looks every inch a 16 year old trying to play men's football. Both appearances from the substitutes bench he got nicely tucked into bed by a succession of Sporting players. We've seen what happened to Ryan Gauld's and Marcus Edwards careers when they've been talked up as being the next big thing. Same with Quenda who was equally as ineffective as Dowman on the other flank. I hope unlike the first two mentioned that he's got people who'll keep his feet on the ground because our boys from the so called farmers league ensured he didn't look anything special at all. What the fuck has Arteta done to Gyökeres by the way? I know I wrote it after the first leg but my God. That's the worst hand over since Amorim to Pereira. Twice I watched him turn and run towards goal in this game and you know the same player is still in there but whatever he had in Lisboa he looks like he needs a change of scenery to unlock it again. 

Post game in Lisboa they were talking up Raya about being the best keeper in the world? Did they replace him with a body double in the second leg? I'm gutted Ben White didn't play because I think Araújo would have had the beating of him tonight having probably played within himself in the first leg. Eze looks like whoever his boot deal is with he shares the maker with Geny Catamo. If either player could actually shoot they'd be world beaters. I had forgotten we've a Dérbi on Sunday so I'm guessing that's why Geny got taken off in the end at a time when he was just starting to stretch the defence in a way that I don't think Quenda will ever achieve in his career. Sporting have sold Chelsea the biggest pup since West Ham sold Kudus to Spurs in the summer. How I wish we still had Alisson Santos because he'd have had a field day out on the left hand side against that Arsenal defence.

Final Xg tells the tale 0.64 to 0.29. There's a reason why Arsenal have only conceded five goals this tournament to date but twice the lions hit the bar or post over two legs and if either had gone in you have to wonder if Arsenal could have reacted. Of the Gunners 15 attempts just 1 on target, 8 off and 6 blocked with the Trossard header hitting the woodwork. Rui Silva with one save to make and if I had to name who had it and my life depended on it I'd better say goodbye now. Zubimendi apparently. Still no recollection at all. In fact having read back my minute by minute for spelling and grammar corrections I'm not sure I even noted it. 

The one thing the lions missed more than anything was pace. The decision to let Alisson go and bring Guilherme and Faye in during the winter has really cost them in these two legs. Their defence was there to be got at tonight especially and their back four with Raya added into the mix looked nervous. The lions only have themselves to blame such as when Gonçalves picked the ball up on the edge of the box and just had to find Trincão. Rush of blood to the head. What he ended up doing was trying to lob Ramsey again. Wrong game Pote. Nevermind. They've done their reputation no harm it has to be said especially given last season the Gunners wiped the floor with us. You have to figure that Simeone's side with the fire power of a Julian Alvarez is going to relish going to war with this Arsenal side and I'd not be surprised to see the Spaniards progress to the final. I've said all season that Suárez isn't good enough and if they get a bid in for him during the summer and can recoup their investment then I've no issue with letting him go whatsoever. I'd certainly take Gyökeres back on loan for a season if Arsenal want his confidence rebuilding. 

After the first leg I was brutally honest in my assessment that no one played above a 6 or a 7 on the ratings. We needed at least one of the forward 4 to hit an 8 tonight and none achieved that marker but as I've written Geny was having the best of their defence just before he came off. He has the chance that hit the post and overall offensively his performance was the best of the four. Credit to Trincão for his work rate again. I imagine he'll be given the captain's armband next season when Hjulmand leaves in the summer. You can see why Edwards is now warming the bench at Burnley and Trincão has now worked his way into being the clubs top earner. There's a lesson for any kids out there, pure talent doesn't get you there alone, you have to do the hard work that goes with the modern game. 

The lack of depth on the bench all too evident. I didn't think Vagiannidis was too bad all things considered when he came on. Bragança was woeful. Quenda was fucking woeful. He'd never make a racing driver because he's on the brakes quicker than a driving instructor with a learner on their first lesson sat the other side of them. Simões had the chance for glory with practically the last kick of the game but it just wasn't meant to be was it. His time will come. I'm not sure Nel even touched the ball having been on the pitch for the final 8 or 9 minutes. 

Let's go with my first vote for man of the match. Morita first up. He was the man with the clever little flicks that seemed to bypass the commentators totally. An absolute monster performance from him and possibly one of his very best ever on a Sporting shirt. I know there's the stereotype about the Japanese being humble but he is truly that and more. He announced last summer he wouldn't sign a new contract but even with a World Cup finals ahead for him in the summer he's leaving with a string of superb performances in the final weeks. Never once has he made any fuss about not being sold unlike a certain Swede. Key tackles, broke up play, played the pivot to great effect. Just superb all around. 

Shout out to Rui Silva in goal. Was caught flat footed for the Trossard header admittedly but otherwise a flawless display in goal. Thankfully I don't have to put him in my final four this week. 

Second choice has to be the skipper Morten Hjulmand. Bit like the miss of Araújo in Norway you're left wondering how different the first leg in Lisboa might have been had he played. Sporting's midfield cost €21.5m combined versus something like £150 million for Rice and Zubimendi who both flattered to deceive for me. Much like Morita’s performance but with fewer flicks. Premier League scouts would be impressed with the display no doubt.

Maxi Araújo, Gonçalo Inácio, Eduardo Quaresma and Ousmane Diomande to go. Jesus this is going to come down to picking faults. Quaresma impressed given he's a central defender and whilst he's played right back before it'll have been a long while since we last saw him out there. I half wondered if with Fresneda out whether Borges might go with a back three of him, Diomande and Inácio but clearly not. We see he can clearly play and is happy with the ball at his feet but his final pass let him down on a few occasions and we saw him with a challenge that really should have resulted in a booking. Still a 7 out of 10 but doesn't make the cut. 

Araújo sets such high standards that when he doesn't match up to them you're left disappointed but probably unfairly so ok my part because I felt he could have offered more in the first leg but it's not as if he had the worst game in the world. Other than for the challenge he got booked for, he had both Madueke and Dowman pretty much in his pocket all night down that side. Had the glorious opportunity that he blasted wide from 12 yards out, had our only shot on target and the penalty shout that wasn't given. He gets my third vote of the night. 

Which leaves Diomande and Inácio fighting it out for the final vote. Neither are going to get my man of the match so I don't suppose it really matters. Both dealt with everything that was thrown around them and most importantly, for a moral victory, Sporting are the only Portuguese side that Victor Gyökeres has played against and never found the net. Diomande caught my eye more so he's vote number four. 

My man of the match - given my love in on the minute by minute it could only have ever been Morita. 

On to the Dérbi we go. Proud of the boys tonight even if we couldn't get it over the line. It's still been a memorable campaign and for all the right reasons.