Arsenal has been a Champions' League also-ran for that contest's existence. We did get to the final in 2005, but lost to Barca. We've never won it, and often go out in the first knockout round. Our Europa League record isn't spectacular, either. For the stature of the club, a good European showing is something the Arsenal need to do every year, and win a cup some time. This is big.
Porto was really tough. They're third in the Primeira and in good recent form. They knew what they wanted to do and executed very well. The third-country refereeing was not great, especially in the first game, so they cooperated with Porto's time-wasting, play-acting, and constant fouling. The Gunners did not play well against Porto's dogged defense and lightning counters. So 1-1 after 210+ minutes seemed about right. All four Arsenal penalty kickers in the shootout scored; Raya saved two Porto attempts to win this knockout round.
Whew. Let's hope we play better in the next round.
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