Three things we learnt from Arsenal's loss against Porto

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Arsenal were looking to put an end to their Champions League Round of 16 curse and got a pretty favourable draw in FC Porto. However, the Gunners have not done pretty well losing the first leg in Portugal 1-0 owing to a very late goal from the Dragons.

In their first Champions League Round of 16 appearance since 2017, Mikel Arteta’s side looked far from their usual best and were punished by Porto very late in the game with Galeno scoring a fantastic winner late in stoppage time.

Sergio Conceicao’s side now have a huge 1-0 advantage ahead of their away trip to the Emirates and while it is pretty narrow, Arsenal will certainly have to step up a notch in the second leg. Here, we will take a look at three talking points from the game

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard fail to make an impact

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are by far the two most creative players at Arsenal and they are the ones Mikel Arteta relies upon to make things happen. However, Porto did exceptionally well to deal with the duo who did not have much joy against the Portuguese side.

Arsenal’s Champions League nightmare could go on
Arsenal have lost all their last seven outings in the Champions League and have in fact went out of the Round of 16 stages. However, they certainly fancied their chances this season following a favorable draw against Porto who incidentally were the side whom they last managed to beat at this stage.

However, their Round of 16 curse could potentially go on as Porto did well to secure a crucial 1-0 lead in the first leg. They could face a stern test at the Emirates but Arsenal must step up in the second leg to overcome the deficit.

Arsenal need a striker badly

Time and again this season it has been evident that Arsenal are missing a prolific number nine who can take them to the next level. They dominate most of the games they play but often struggled to make it count and a lethal finisher can certainly make things smoother for the Gunners. Someone like Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic or Ivan Toney is needed and Mikel Arteta must ensure that in the summer.