![](\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/raya-the-hero-as-arsenal-scrape-past-porto-barca-down-napoli-to-reach-quarter-finals.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
David Raya proved the hero as Arsenal survived a penalty shootout to scrape past Porto and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years after a tense last-16 duel had ended 1-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Porto, who won the opening leg 1-0, proved stubborn opposition for the Premier League leaders and Arsenal fans must have feared another night of European heartache.But Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice all tucked away their spot kicks with clinical precision and Arsenal keeper Raya made two saves.He got the slightest of touches to send Wendell\u2019s effort against the post and then saved Galeno\u2019s penalty to send Arsenal through 4-2 in the shootout and spark wild celebrations.Leandro Trossard\u2019s goal shortly before halftime had levelled the tie but Arsenal struggled to break down a disciplined Porto side who produced a defensive masterclass.Extra time failed to separate the sides but Mikel Arteta\u2019s team held their nerve to snap a run of seven successive exits at the last-16 stage. The last time they reached the quarter-finals in 2010 they also beat Porto in the last 16 and they will go into Friday\u2019s draw full of confidence that they can go further.\u201cFor them to do it when the club hasn\u2019t done it for 14 years that tells you the difficulty,\u201d Arteta, whose side have won eight successive Premier League games to edge ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool, told reporters.\u201cThey are willing to sacrifice anything to win.It was hard on Porto who produced a classic away performance with 41-year-old defender Pepe a rock at the back and Evanilson twice going close to stunning the hosts.But they were left deflated as their dreadful record away to English clubs continued with a 20th defeat from 24 games.ARSENAL FRUSTRATION<\/strong>Porto\u2019s tactic of disrupting Arsenal\u2019s attacking rhythm had worked a treat in the first leg when Galeno\u2019s stoppage-time goal earned them a 1-0 win and it proved effective again.Arsenal were restricted to few clear chances in the opening period with Odegaard\u2019s shot into the side-netting a rare glimmer of their usual attacking verve.Backed by a sizeable travelling support, Porto were calm and composed and occasionally threatening with Brazilian striker Evanilson forcing a fine save from Raya.With halftime approaching anxiety was growing among the home faithful but the mood changed in the 41st minute when Odegaard, so often Arsenal\u2019s catalyst, slipped a pass through Porto\u2019s defence and Trossard side-footed past Diogo Costa.The expected Arsenal siege failed to materialise in the second half though as Porto stuck to their script, disrupting the flow of the game with every trick in the book.Arsenal\u2019s frustration boiled over at the midway point of the second half when Pepe tried to shepherd the ball back to his keeper but got in a tangle and Odegaard scored, only for the goal to be harshly ruled out for a foul by Havertz.Arteta was so incensed at the decision that he received a yellow card and not long after that Porto coach Sergio Conceicao also went into the book as the tension mounted.With the tie on a knife edge Arsenal\u2019s hearts were in their mouths when Francisco Conceicao burst through and forced Raya into another save while at the other end substitute Gabriel Jesus almost scored with his first touch as his close-range shot was saved by the legs of Diogo Costa.Extra time was a stalemate but Arsenal prevailed in the first Champions League knockout match to go to penalties since the 2016 final between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.\u201cA great moment personally and collectively. I\u2019m over the moon to save two penalties in the Champions League to get through to the quarter-finals,\u201d Raya said.<\/p>\n Barcelona reached the\u00a0Champions\u00a0League\u00a0quarter-finals for the first time in four years after a thrilling 3-1 home win over Napoli in their last-16 second leg gave them a deserved 4-2 aggregate victory on Tuesday.Early goals by Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo set the hosts on their way and, after Amir Rrahmani cut the deficit before the break, Robert Lewandowski wrapped up the win with a late third.Napoli had never beaten Barca in their previous five meetings and it turned out to be a repeat of the 2020\u00a0Champions\u00a0League\u00a0meeting with a 3-1 home win for the Spanish side after a 1-1 draw in Naples.That was the last time the Catalans had won a knockout stage game in the competition and their most recent qualification for the last eight.\u201cVery happy, Barcelona are in the top eight in Europe. It was a well-deserved qualification, a game dominated in attack and defence but also an excellent game by Napoli,\u201d Barca coach Xavi Hernandez told Mediaset.\u201cHappy with the qualification and we\u2019ll see how the draw goes. Proud to be back in the quarter-finals after years.\u201dIn a highly entertaining affair at Montjuic Stadium, Barca pressed high early on, giving Napoli little time to settle, and the few attacks the visitors managed to create ended with striker Victor Osimhen offside.EARLY OPENERThe opening goal came\u00a0in the 15th minute when\u00a0Cancelo played in Raphinha down the left wing and he cut into the area and pulled a ball back which Lewandowski let run to the unmarked Fermin who calmly slotted his shot into the bottom left corner.Napoli had little time to recover before Barca doubled their lead. The visitors pushed forward in search of an equaliser and Barcelona countered with pace.The excellent Lamine Yamal\u2019s cross-field pass found Raphinha who cut into the area and wrong-footed Giovanni Di Lorenzo before curling a shot which came back off the far post and Cancelo was there to drive his first time effort into the net.\u201cThere is disappointment, because we came here to try to win and we didn\u2019t succeed,\u201d Napoli manager Francesco Calzona said.\u201cWe got off to a very bad start, if you concede so much to this team in the long run you lose it.\u201dNapoli finally found a way through on the half hour when Matteo Politano went past Cancelo in the area before playing the ball back to Rrahmani whose run from the back was rewarded with a sidefooted shot past goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.Visiting keeper Alex Meret kept Napoli in the tie with a couple of great saves after the break from Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan, but could do nothing about the final goal.Lewandowski fashioned a neat one-two with Gundogan who played the ball in to Roberto and his quick pass found the Polish striker for a simple tap-in to kill off Napoli\u2019s hopes.Minutes earlier Napoli had their best chance to level but Jesper Lindstrom headed just wide and the Italian\u00a0champions\u00a0go out after reaching the quarter-finals last season for the first time.Follow the David Raya saved two penalties in a shootout to help Arsenal advance to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years, after their match against Porto ended 1-1 on aggregate. Arsenal won the shootout 4-2, with successful penalties from Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Declan Rice. Leandro Trossard scored for Arsenal before halftime. This victory ended Arsenal’s streak of seven consecutive exits at the last-16 stage. Barcelona also advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Napoli, securing a 4-2 aggregate victory. Early goals by Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo, followed by a late goal from Robert Lewandowski, contributed to Barcelona’s win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1534,383,1234,1397,1398,1240,426,1498,3,1167,201,250,1088,1346,897,1667,1668,348,815,991,1358,618],"class_list":["post-3983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-arsenal","tag-attack","tag-attacks","tag-barcelona","tag-champions-league","tag-clear","tag-competition","tag-confidence","tag-cyprus","tag-draw","tag-europe","tag-google","tag-liverpool","tag-meeting","tag-moon","tag-penalty-shootout","tag-porto","tag-premier-league","tag-real-madrid","tag-stadium","tag-support","tag-top"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nBarca into\u00a0Champions\u00a0League\u00a0last eight with 3-1 win over Napoli<\/h4>\n
\nCyprus Mail on Google News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"