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70 min: Arteta makes his first change with Ødegaard coming off for Havertz.
67 min: Zubimendi lays it off to Gyökeres, who has four defenders around him. He shifts it on to his right foot to get a shot away but it is right at Silva.
64 min: Arsenal have the ball in the net! The celebrations start after Zubimendi curls one in … but Gyökeres looks well offside in the buildup. The referee blows the whistle, initially to tell the Arsenal players to celebrate away from the Sporting supporters throwing objects on the pitch but then a VAR review follows. Easy decision – no goal.
62 min: Sporting make the first change of the night with the 19-year-old Simões coming off for Bragança. Meanwhile, Arteta gives some direction to Trossard while Ødegaard receives some treatment on the pitch. The conversation on Arsenal’s international duty antics continues in my inbox with Russell writing in:
Why do people care so much about Arsenal players leaving early from international duty, particularly meaningless friendlies late in the season? It’s a rational decision that promotes player welfare. It should be obvious to everyone that a lot of these players are absolutely knackered because of how busy their schedules are these days. Having a bit of a break, particularly in a World Cup year, makes a lot of sense. Also, I don’t remember people making a big deal out of Ryan Giggs being left out of the Wales team back in the day. People weren’t taking to the Instantgrams and the Tick-tocks to complain about how Sir Alex was ruining the integrity of the game!
60 min: Rice tries to dribble through but is forced to look behind him for the pass due to the press. “Not giving them anytime on the ball, forcing them backwards,” says Alan Shearer on comms.
59 min: Sporting win a corner after some fancy footwork from Trincão but nothing comes from it. Kind of remarkable that both these teams are set-piece specialists in their respective leagues but nothing has come from any of the corners and free-kicks yet.
57 min: Another run down the left from Araújo. He pulls it back for Trincão after a good touch but the Portuguese can’t get the shot off and he misses the target. Some boos from the home fans after Calafiori commits what they deem is a foul but the referee is not interested.
55 min: From the second corner, Sporting counter and Raya is high up the pitch to head it away. Only as far as a green and white shirt though, and the Spaniard scrambles back. The hosts don’t take their chance and the eventual cross floats into open space.
52 min: Madueke is again fouled by Araújo and Arsenal with a dangerous free-kick … Ødegaard goes for goal and Silva palms it up and over. Back-to-back corners for Arsenal which lead to zilch.
51 min: Inácio with a defence splitting pass for a rushing Catamo, but there is too much on it and the Mozambican just can’t quite get there.
49 min: Arsenal surge forward, Trossard cuts in on the right and rolls a weak, low shot towards the near post that is wide.
46 min: Sporting win a corner after some good overlapping play that White clears. Gonçalves takes and Arsenal clear.
Second half: Sporting get us going in Lisbon. No changes for either team. Will we see another 45 minutes like the first half or will either side take more risks?
Max with some notes for Arteta:
We need to make some changes. I think playing for a draw here is a waste even if the second leg is at home.
And Steve from Salisbury but currently in Portugal weighs in on tonight’s menu:
In a bar in Tomar (full of Sporting fans) dining on fried steak followed by chocolate mousse. Luckily, a goalless first half from Woolwich is not giving me indigestion. Regards from a vaguely interested Spurs fan.
Alan writes in for the half-time post bag:
The “Invincibles” were not invincible outside of the Premier League in 2003-04. They lost the League Cup semi-final to Middlesbrough in February, and then both the FA Cup semi-final (with Thierry Henry shockingly rested in a non-performance) and the Champions League quarter-final (to a late goal from a left-back, Wayne Bridge) in a single week in April. In their next game against Liverpool in the PL, they conceded after 5 minutes and went in at half-time training 2-1, confidence apparently shot, before Henry took things into his own hands, scoring 2 goals in a minute (the second being the famous Jamie Carragher skittles goal), before completing a hat-trick in the 78th minute. As Arsène Wenger has said, Henry went to a whole other level when he was angry. Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier likened Arsenal to a “wounded animal”. All great teams are fallible, but they all have proud players who channel their anger when wounded. Is this Arsenal a great team? Perhaps tonight we will find out.
Half-time: Sporting 0-0 Arsenal
The referee wastes no time blowing the whistle for half-time. Saliba and Araújo have a bit of a tussle after the whistle with words exchanged but the referee gets between them pretty quickly.
44 min: Suárez makes a fantastic run in between the two Arsenal centre-backs but the ball just flicks over him and is cleared.
43 min: Ødegaard takes a chance from just inside the box but it is an easy save for Silva. Arsenal’s first chance on target.
Real Madrid v Bayern: There has been a goal in the other Champions League game tonight. Join Rob Smyth for spoilers.
40 min: Diomande has a go from about 35 yards out but it is well over the bar.
38 min: Good play from Suárez before Zubimendi steps in. His pass to Raya isn’t perfect though and there is a moment of unease for the visitors before the keeper collects.
36 min: The rain is coming down hard in Lisbon. It has become a bit of a tough watch now, with Sporting defending valiantly and Arsenal struggling to up the tempo against a well setup side.
34 min: Madueke tumbles over a Sporting player but no whistle from the referee. Arsenal retain the ball but Calafiori fails to cross it into the box.
31 min: The first card in the evening goes to Morita for a foul on Trossard. The Japanese midfielder wins the ball in the sliding tackle but the follow through isn’t pretty. Rice takes the free-kick with an inswinger into the box and it is headed away.
31 min: Calafiori, Arsenal’s left-back, finds himself on the right in the box. He crosses it to a patch of green grass.
28 min: A half chance for Sporting as Inácio finds Araújo. Great run from the full-back but his first-time pass to Suárez is poorly executed. Arsenal win a corner and there isn’t much height or power on it.
27 min: Saliba sweeps up some danger near the touchline before the ball ends up at Raya’s feet. Some poor distribution from the Spaniard as the ball bounces to Silva’s box. He puts his hand up in apology.
25 min: Inácio gives the ball away to Madueke in his own half but the Arsenal winger takes a moment too long to cross it in, allowing Araújo to step in.
23 min: Araújo fails to nutmeg White just outside the box and then fouls the Arsenal defender when trying to win it back. The Uruguayan is everywhere so far.
20 min: Madueke is fouled again by Araújo, this time a bit further out. Arsenal take a short free-kick and work it to the other side of the pitch before Ødegaard attempts to whip in a cross. He can’t get enough height on it though, and it is blocked.
18 min: Things have calmed again slightly. Arsenal passing it around, trying to find space.
15 min: It takes a few mins for Madueke to take the corner and the whistles are loud as we wait. He finally whips it in and hits the crossbar before landing towards Ødegaard. He tries to lash it in but he mistimes his shot and it lands further out to Trossard, whose low shot is wide. Silva struggled with claiming that corner, moments after an awkward handling of a free-kick. Some possible nerves for the Sporting keeper?
13 min: Araújo fouls Madueke and Arsenal have a free-kick on the right just outside the box … Ødegaard with a good ball in the box and Silva is nowhere near it as he comes out to claim. It bounces awkwardly and goes out for corner.
11 min: First touch for Gyökeres in the opposition box. He wants someone to help him out with a run but before that can happen Araújo swoops in to steal the ball off him.
10 min: Catamo tries his luck from a tight angle on the right but Raya gets down to make a low save.
8 min: The referee signals for a foul in the buildup to that chance and Sporting have a dangerous free kick. The Arsenal wall does its job before Araújo has another go, this time from distance. It flies over the bar.
6 min: Araújo hits the post! A fantastic pass from Diomande with the outside of his foot and Araújo is through on goal after beating the offside trap. He rifles it and it hammers against the crossbar. Replays show Raya got the slightest of fingers on it – fantastic goalkeeping.
5 min: More passing around the back from Arsenal. Sporting are in a 5-2-3 when out of possession.
3 min: Some good passes from Sporting in Arsenal’s final third before White blocks the ball off Araújo before the cross can come in.
1 min: Arsenal pass it around the back before surging forward. Boos and whistles ring out after Saliba fouls Suárez in the middle of the pitch.
Kick-off: Sporting 0-0 Arsenal
Here we go! Arsenal get us going in their dark navy second kit with a lighter-navy lighting bolt pattern. Sporting in their traditional green and white stripes.
The teams are out and the Champions League anthem is being played. ‘You are my life’ reads the tifo, an ode from Sporting fans to their beloved club. Great energy in Lisbon so far – mostly from the home fans but the pocket of 2,600 Arsenal away fans are doing their best. Kick-off up next.
A look at the pre-match post bag.
Jeff is dubious:
After the last 2 losses, nothing can be taken for granted and I don’t think Arsenal are favourites for this game tonight. Arteta is trying to convince himself but the truth is: he is panicking!
Ana has her eyes set in the middle of the pitch:
Zubimendi and Rice are our two most important players tonight. If they have a good game, I think we will take a good lead to the Emirates.
Something does not add up for John:
Shocking that all the players Arsenal withdrew from international duty are now in the starting XI. How does that work?
And Paul has a comparison for the ages:
I am quite surprised that Viktor Gyökeres has gotten a decent reception during the warmup … We all know Alexander Isak would not receive the same warm welcome on Tyneside. What is the difference between how the two forced moves?
Around the ground: Some early shots from Estádio José Alvalade before kick-off.
Sporting: Rui Borges speaks to Sport TV on selecting João Simões in place of the suspended Morten Hjulm:
He’s a lad who brings something different to the table. If we’d gone for Dani [Daniel Bragança], he’d have done the job just the same, but in a different way. I get it, and I even had a laugh during the week because everyone was rooting for Zeno [Debast], but that’s a good sign. Zeno is also looking to get back to his best physically; he’s been out of action for a long time and the midfield position is very demanding. He hasn’t been playing or training there, and we reckoned he might struggle a bit.
And on how he ranks his team compared to Europe’s elite and the game plan against Arsenal:
We need to understand where we are, who we’re up against and what competition and stage we’re at. They’re good, but so are we. There are only three teams better than us at set-pieces: Arsenal, Dortmund and Inter. It’s about believing in what we do; we’ve been competent. We won’t stray too far from what we’ve been doing. We’ll be prepared for that. We like to be a bit daring at that moment and we look closely at what our opponents have done. But without straying from our own game plan.
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich: Rob Smyth is on MBM duty for the match at the Santiago Bernabeu. Follow along below.
Champions League preview: Our friends at WhoScored have crunched all the numbers behind the four quarter-final ties: Sporting v Arsenal, Real Madrid v Bayern, Barcelona v Atlético Madrid and PSG v Liverpool.
What do the numbers say about who will progress? Have a look below.
Team news
Sporting XI (4-2-3-1): Silva; Fresneda, Diomande, Inácio, Araújo; Simões, Morita; Catamo, Trincão, Gonçalves; Suárez.
Subs: Virgina, Callai, Debast, Vagiannidis, Kochorashvili, Faya, Bragança, Gonçalves, Quaresma, Nel, Magnes.
João Simões is Rui Borges’ choice to replace the suspended Morten Hjulmand – Sporting’s captain – in midfield. The 19-year-old has started eight of the 10 games his side has played the competition so far.
Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Ødegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyökeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Ranson, Mosquera, Jesus, Martinelli, Nørgaard, Havertz, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Annous, Salmon.
As expected, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Jurriën Timber are not involved due to injury. David Raya returns as goalkeeper and Ben White starts at right-back in the absence of Timber. Gabriel Magalhães, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all also return into the starting XI.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
Sporting: This may be dubbed the unofficial Viktor Gyökeres derby and it remains to be seen how much impact the Swede will have as he returns to his former stomping ground.
However, Sporting fans have a new, shiny striker to boast about in Luis Suárez (no, not that one) of Colombia. Where Gyökeres stood out for physical power – bullying defenders, dominating duels and attacking space behind the backline – Suárez operates differently. He is far more involved in the buildup, dictating movements in the final third. He has superior technique to Gyökeres, even if he is slightly less lethal. With 33 goals in 42 appearances, the 28-year-old has quickly made supporters forget his predecessor and tops the league’s scoring chart.
Read more from Miguel Dantas below.
Arsenal: Mikel Arteta has insisted that his side will not panic after losing successive games for the first time this season but admitted that they must rediscover their identity to get their campaign back on track.
The Premier League leaders saw their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple crumble with defeats by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup.
Asked whether he was concerned about his side’s ability to cope with pressure situations, Arteta said:
No. I think when you have the opportunity that we have, that has to be taken through excitement, through preparing yourself in the best possible way, focusing on the present and on the things that we have to do. And especially in our identity, it’s very clear what is taking us on the way to where we are, and that’s where we have to focus.
There are parts and identities created by behaviours, not with words in the world, or with things that I want to achieve. And we have so many facts in the areas that, in our opinion, make us the team and the club that we are.
Read more from Ed Aarons below.
Preamble
It has not been the best fortnight for Arsenal, having lost the Carabao Cup final and been knocked out of the FA Cup in back-to-back matches. They will hoping to avoid a third consecutive loss in Lisbon as they take on Sporting for their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Still, the Premier League is more or less secured (too early to say that?!) and Mikel Arteta’s men will back themselves in this tie as they continue their pursuit of European glory, having been the only side this season yet to suffer defeat in this competition.
As underdogs, Sporting will hope that they can take advantage of their home form, having won their last 17 matches at at Estádio José Alvalade. Five of those wins have come in the Champions League this season, including a breathtaking 5-0 thumping in the second leg of the last 16 after needing to turnaround a 3-0 loss at Bodø/Glimt.
Can the Portuguese giants strike first or will Arsenal seize control? Join me for the 8pm BST kick-off in Lisbon and, as always, get in touch via email if you have any thoughts, predictions, questions, complaints or concerns. Team news to follow shortly.
