It didn’t feel like Arsenal had just qualified for only their second Champions League semi-final in 17 years. The final whistle came with overwhelming but cautious relief rather than ecstasy; the feeling that Arsenal had got away with one by the skin of their teeth, but next time they won’t be so lucky.
Had Joao Simoes 94th-minute effort crept a few inches to the left, this last-eight tie was heading to extra time. That would’ve been catastrophic for their physical state ahead of their biggest game of the season on Sunday. In their current mental state, Arsenal progression would not have been a safe bet.
Mikel Arteta made a rallying cry in which he asked Arsenal’s supporters to come to the Emirates not with their dinner, but with “pure fire” and “zero fear” for the visit of Sporting. Fans struggled to comply. There was less a fire in their bellies, more a collective knot.
It was a stark comparison to this exact occasion 12 months ago. When Real Madrid came to town, there was an atmosphere unadulterated belief and optimism that this team could create magic. Maybe it helped that their Premier League title race had already been run at the time; Liverpool were 11 points clear, so their focus was streamlined.
But on this night, there was more than a tinge of anxiety in the air, a hangover from still being very much in the thick of a title race, and one that has a yellow flag being waved. Some were no longer allowing themselves to dream of the best, instead conditioned by three years of hurt to fearing the worst.
This did not help a team of players who currently appear tortured by their own psyche. Arsenal were error-prone, especially at the back, with David Raya and William Saliba each gifting Sporting possession when unsuccessfully trying to play out from the back. It was Tottenham-esque at times.
Both blunders went unpunished; against the attacking quality of any other team in the last eight, maybe barring Liverpool, things would’ve surely been different. But the concern is these aren’t isolated incidents in one match – Arsenal’s build-up from deep was hugely problematic against Bournemouth, too. A team previously heralded as one with the most resolute defence arguably in world football now looks shaky
Such was the case for the best chance – the only real chance – of a pedestrian first-half. The culmination of a sweeping Sporting move that cuts Arsenal open far too easily, Geny Catano is left completely untracked at the back post and volleys Maximiliano Araujo’s dinked cross off the left post. On the brink of half-time, this tie should have been level.
That is not to say Sporting were playing a perfect game. They were similarly susceptible to an error (or five) at the back; just Arsenal rarely looked like capitalising. Those meant to drive the hosts towards goal, like Noni Madueke, were frightened to take on a man as Arsenal overthought their opportunities until dispossession. Screams of “go forwards!”, often with an expletive, were ever-present.
When the Madueke finally did go through the gears, it fashioned Arsenal’s best chance of the game so far – darting across the box before firing into the side netting on 57 minutes. The Englishman turned a corner five minutes before he was forced off injured.
The moment that encapsulated the difference in mindset between now and that famous night against Real Madrid a year ago, fittingly, came with a free-kick. Declan Rice, then the hero from the dead ball, stood with the ball set 25 yards out – but plays it short. Sporting quickly snuff out the routine and counter. If not for the lung-besting recovery of left-winger Gabriel Martinelli down the right, the visitors were in. In diametric opposition to the Real encounter, Arsenal’s players looked scared to go for the spectacular.
In a second 45 that saw Sporting gas, they bookmarked the half with two close calls; first from Araujo three minutes after the restart, set up by Morten Hjulmand – an Arsenal fan and possible transfer target who has the club crest tattooed on his bicep – and then Simoes with practically the last kick of the game.
Otherwise there was improvement to speak of from the hosts, who pressed a tiring team well and came close to killing the tie when Leandro Trossard hit the post with seven minutes to play. A bright finish could instil a bit of confidence, even if a late scare will leave them wiping their brow.
This time, Arteta’s men managed to survive. In keeping with their display in Lisbon, they emerged from the night having done what was required and nothing more.
But heading to the Etihad, it is imperative they clear the mental fog that comes with the possibility of repeated failure. Against this Manchester City team in a ruthless vein of form, the question of whether they can emerge unscathed while still racked by such anxiety seems to answer itself.
