Arsenal: Raya, Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubimendi, Eze, Madueke, Martinelli, Gyokeres

Subs: Kepa, Setford, White, Lewis-Skelly, Jesus, Norgaard, Trossard, Havertz, Dudziak, Dowman, Jesus, Salmon

Arsenal secured their place in the Champions League semi-final after drawing 0-0 with Sporting (1-0 on aggregate) on Wednesday, after a tense second leg at Emirates Stadium.

That result means it’s back-to-back semi finals for the first time in the club’s history, with another difficult tie against Atletico Madrid waiting for them later this month.

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Mikel Arteta made three changes from the side that lost to Bournemouth last time out, with Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie and Eberechi Eze all coming into the side.

Injured quartet Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard missed out on the matchday squad again but Declan Rice shook off an illness to start.

FIRST HALF

It was a bright start from the Gunners who were snapping into tackles and moving the ball around quickly, with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli finding themselves in dangerous areas without creating anything obvious.

But that strong start faded quickly and Sporting came back into the game, with Trincao firing just wide after William Saliba gave the ball away poorly in midfield. Viktor Gyokeres was next to try his luck after Noni Madueke did well to force a high turnover but he got way under his effort which sailed over.

With 20 minutes on the clock, there was a heart-in-mouth moment for the Gunners who found themselves caught after trying to take a quick free kick, but Martinelli showed great speed and endeavour to race back and deny Catamo.

There was another nearly moment for Arsenal when Eze did well to find Martin Zubimendi making a late run from midfield, but after the ball squirmed its way into the box, Gyokeres couldn’t react quickly enough and Inacio got across quickly to clear.

But after another (small) bright spell for Arteta’s men, Sporting came back with some chances of their own and one was entirely self-inflicted when David Raya played the ball straight to Trincao but he couldn’t find Luis Suarez who was totally alone in front of goal.

Then just before the break, another Sporting attack ended up with Catamo volleying onto the woodwork after Araujo did well to find him unmarked at the back post. Raya wasn’t getting there but thankfully for Arsenal, it bounced off the post and out to safety.

It was a difficult half for the Gunners who, despite still leading the tie, looked a team low on confidence, quality and options – just about everything you need to win games at this level.

SECOND HALF

Neither side made any half time changes and it was Sporting who had an early effort when Araujo flashed a right-footed effort wide (which looked a lot closer in real time), before Eze tried his luck from distance again but goalkeeper Rui Silva saw it comfortably wide.

Suddenly Madueke caught fire and finally made an impact on the game after bypassing two defenders and crossing into the box, which ended up with Martinelli firing over after Eze did well to block a defender off. Moments later he drove inside and looked to have a clear view of goal but delayed – maybe even took it off Martinelli – and fired into the side netting.

But it was more positive from Arsenal who had put some energy into the crowd, and Arteta wasted little time getting Kai Havertz on for the ineffective Gyokeres who struggled again against his former club.

Max Dowman followed shortly after, replacing Madueke who looked to have suffered an injury after a heavy collision – exactly what this team needed.

There was another nervy moment in defence when Cristhian Mosquera nudged Araujo in the back and could’ve easily given away a penalty, which would have been soft but in the VAR era (and with European referees usually unpredictable) you can’t take chances like that.

Sporting eventually made their first two changes of the game with 20 minutes remaining, bringing on Braganca and Quenda for Catamo and Goncalves as they hoped to add some fresher legs to the final stages. Arteta responded with two more of his own with Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard replacing Eze and Martinelli.

As the clock ticked over 80 minutes, things were becoming increasingly tense with one goal in either direction having a huge impact on the game and Trossard almost bagged a crucial one, but his back post header came back off the post with the goalkeeper stranded.

Despite the nervy atmosphere, Arsenal were doing a good job of controlling possession in the final third with Jesus and Trossard adding some much-needed technical quality to hold the ball and bop it around under pressure.

Sporting continued to push forward without any real intent but a chance did fall their way in the last second of the four added minutes, when Simoes found space on the edge of the area but dragged his shot wide – with referee Daniel Siebert blowing his final whistle almost directly after.

The Portuguese side battled across both legs but Arsenal did well to control a difficult scoreline late on and you could feel the relief on the pitch – and in the stands – when time was eventually called.

Atletico Madrid await for the Gunners (a repeat of the 4-0 win earlier this season) but that result already feels like a lifetime away, with Bayern Munich and PSG making up the other semi-final after a thriller in Germany.

All to play for now and more importantly – eyes straight to Sunday.