The Gunners head to Portugal on Tuesday night knowing a place in the Champions League semi finals for the second season running would be uncharted territory but standing in their way is a Sporting side who have won SEVENTEEN straight home games.
Mikel Arteta’s side have been flawless in Europe this season, going unbeaten in all ten of their continental fixtures. Away from home, they have lost just once in their last ten on the road. On paper, the numbers look good.
But the Estadio Jose Alvalade is no ordinary away day.
Sporting have won all five of their Champions League home games this season. In fact, they have won their last seventeen matches on their own patch, a run that stretches back months. This is a team that beat Paris Saint Germain and Athletic Bilbao at home in the league phase. They do not lose in Lisbon.
A historic comeback
Ruben Borges’ side reached the quarter finals for just the second time in their history after pulling off one of the most stunning comebacks you will ever see.
They lost 3-0 away to Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of the round of 16. Everyone wrote them off. Then they won the return leg 5-0 after extra time. Absolutely bonkers.
Now they face an Arsenal side they have never beaten in regulation time in seven attempts. The Gunners won 5-1 in Lisbon last season. But that was then. This is now.
What the managers say
Arteta is trying to keep his side focused on the present, not the past.
“This is the quarter finals of the Champions League, it doesn’t get much better than that,” he said. “We worked so hard throughout the season to be in this position.
“You cannot pick the games, you cannot pick the moments or the actions. It’s every action, every game, every moment. That’s the standard that we set.”
Borges, meanwhile, is expecting a wounded animal.
“Arsenal is a great team, and great teams always want to win,” he said. “They will be like a wounded beast tomorrow. They will be more focused, more willing to show their capacity.
“Frankly, I think it will make things more difficult for us the fact that they have not had the best two last matches. But Arsenal will be facing a very motivated team. We believe we can do something extraordinary.”
Team news
The big news for Arsenal is that Gabriel came off against Southampton on Saturday but has travelled. Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice who both sat out the weekend’s FA Cup quarter final, have also made the trip.
Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber have NOT been passed fit to travel. Arteta hopes to have them back for the weekend. They join Ebere Eze, Piero Hincapie and Mikel Merino on the sidelines.
Sporting will be without captain Morten Hjulmand through suspension. Ivan Fresneda missed last week’s win through illness but could feature.
Big money striker Fotis Ioannidis remains out with a knee injury. Young wingers Geovany Quenda and Luis Guilherme are also missing, along with left back Nuno Santos.
Facts and stats
Arsenal have lost just one of their previous 11 games against Portuguese opponents in major European competition. But here is the catch, they have never won away against Portuguese opposition in the knockout stages of a major European competition.
Sporting have won all five of their home Champions League games this season. The longest home winning streak by a Portuguese side in the competition since Porto in December 1999.
Arsenal have the lowest per game averages in the Champions League this season for goals conceded (0.5), xG against (0.75) and shots on target faced (2.7). They have also trailed for the fewest minutes of any team in this edition, just 42 minutes.
David Raya has prevented more goals than any other goalkeeper in the Champions League since the start of last season (+7.4).
And Luis Suare the man tasked with replacing Viktor Gyokeres, has five Champions League goals this term. One more would equal the club record set by Gyokeres last season.
The referee
Daniel Siebert heads an all German officiating team. He last refereed Arsenal in January 2025 when they beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. In seven Champions League games this season, he has issued 37 yellow cards, two reds and awarded one penalty.
The bottom line
Arsenal have the European pedigree. They have the defensive stats. They have the motivation after a dodgy couple of domestic results.
But Sporting at home are a different beast entirely. Seventeen straight wins. Five out of five in the Champions League this season. A crowd that will be bouncing.
If Arsenal get through this, they will have done it the hard way. And that is exactly how Arteta will want it.
