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After a period of weakness at the end of 2023, Arsenal have made a furious comeback in the new year. Porto has to dress warmly in the Champions League round of 16.
Legend: Arsenal coach leaves nothing to chance Mikel Arteta in conversation with his most important player, Bukayo Saka. Imago Images/Sportimage/Darren Staples
It is no coincidence that the current Arsenal has many parallels with Manchester City. On the one hand, it is never wrong to orient yourself to the best. On the other hand, Mikel Arteta was Pep Guardiola’s model student in the City coaching bench from 2016 to 2019.
Both teams have similar types of players in their squads, and the tactical orientation is also similar. And: Although Arsenal, alongside Manchester City, can undoubtedly rely on world-class players, the star of the team does not stand on the pitch, but rather on the sidelines. As with Guardiola, Arteta’s effect on his protégés is enormous.
21:3 goals in the last 5 games
Since his arrival in north London, Arteta has not been nearly as successful as his Spanish compatriot – the 2020 FA Cup victory is the most important title to date – but Arsenal is getting closer and closer to the top of England under the Basque coach. After the “Gunners” were able to keep up with Manchester City for a long time in the last Premier League season, they are still fully involved this season after 25 match days.
The fact that the gap to leader Liverpool is only 2 points and that to the “Citizens” is only 1 point is due to Arsenal’s excellent form since mid-January. The maximum number of points resulted from the last 5 competitive games – all in the Premier League. Beyond the outcome of the game, the way Arsenal outclassed their opponents was also impressive.
Datum
Opponent
Results
20.01.
Crystal Palace (h)
5:0
30.01.
Nottingham Forest (a)
2:1
04.02.
Liverpool (h)
3:1
11.02.
West Ham (a)
6:0
17.02.
Burnley (a)
5:0
Favorite role against Porto
From Arsenal’s point of view, it is now important to demonstrate their current dominant performance at the national level internationally. On Wednesday, Arteta’s team will visit FC Porto in their first Champions League round of 16 since the 2016/17 season. The Portuguese runner-up is in third place in the domestic championship behind Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, but the gap to the leader is already quite large at 7 points.
Sending notice
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You can see summaries of Wednesday’s CL games in “Champions League Highlights” on SRF two from 11 p.m.
Although Porto has gained significantly more experience in the premier class than Arsenal in the recent past, the English are clearly the favourites. Not least because Arteta’s most important offensive players are in great shape, especially Bukayo Saka: the 22-year-old winger has scored 6 goals in the last 5 games. In addition to the English international, Gabriel Martinelli (3 goals), Leandro Trossard (4 goals) and Martin Odegaard (1 goal/3 assists) are particularly noteworthy.
Arsenal have returned to the national stage. Now the time seems ripe for the “Gunners” to make a difference in Europe again. Hard to believe: The last time Arsenal reached a Champions League quarter-final was 14 (!) years ago.