The ghosts of Arsenal’s previous seasons were lingering in the Lisbon air.
The naysayers had the words ‘bottle jobs’ ready on their tongues.
Even the nerves of the jack-in-the-box character that is Mikel Arteta was plain clear, exuding onto the pitch and into the stands.
You see, this was more than a Champions League quarter-final for Arsenal. They could not afford to falter. Not one bit. Two consecutive losses spelt a campaign teetering on the precipice of doubt; three would be slowly edging towards terminal damage territory.
Losing to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final is disappointing from a Gunners perspective, but no disgrace. The capitulation against Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, though, told a different story; one suggesting that the rising tide of pressure had crept into the north London club’s boat.
Yet, the main takeaway on Tuesday night centred on Arsenal’s man between the sticks. The gulf in class between David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga, as reflected in those previous two matches, is immeasurable.
His fingertip stop to deflect Maximiliano Araujo’s strike onto the crossbar after six minutes from point-blank range was world-class — and that was just a taster.
Towards the end, he sprung towards his bottom-left corner to push Geny Catamo’s header wide. And then on 87 minutes, he produced a crucial intervention to stop a Catamo strike, before reacting rapidly to prevent Luis Suarez putting away the rebound.
Between now and the end of the season, Raya is the man Arteta just cannot afford to lose. Perhaps more so than Declan Rice or Gabriel. He is that important.
The thought of Kepa in goal on a night such as this is a frightening one indeed.
For a team labelled as nearly men, the kind of which falter at final hurdles, Sporting Lisbon away was an important marker after the recent events.
A £250million summer splurge and three consecutive seasons of near-misses equates to the non-negotiable of silverware. Anything less than that and this campaign would be considered a failure.
The visitors underwhelmed in large parts, their heist nearly completed early by Martin Zubimendi’s curling effort which beat goalkeeper Rui Silva on 64 minutes. But the ineffective Viktor Gyokeres, returning to his old home and met by mild applause, was offside.
That was before substitute Kai Havertz came to the rescue in injury time to finish Gabriel Martinelli’s dinked ball over the top and seal a victory which Arteta so badly needed.
The Spaniard will be delighted with the result in the face of a resolute Sporting side for more reasons than just making a sizable step closer to consecutive Champions League semi-finals, which this club have never done before. The scrutiny which has engulfed his team quietens somewhat, and the mental boost from this will do them a world of good.
The home team gave this a real good go, going close few times on a night they deserved more from. They won’t be arriving in London to lay down.
From Quadruple aspirations to a team crashing out of two competitions across a mere fortnight, Arsenal had some task on their hands.
They were entering a green cauldron unfamiliar to losing at home, the Jose Alvalade Stadium a formidable fortress for Sporting.
After winning all five of their home Champions League matches this season — across all competitions, it was 16 wins in a row here — Rui Borges’ men were understandably in high spirits.
Though, a zoom out from the trauma metered out in recent weeks reflected a team on Arsenal which is still widely feared across Europe, despite their recent misgivings.
For starters, the Gunners still remain the only side yet to suffer defeat in Europe’s elite competition this season; that is some feat indeed.
Arsenal’s summer spend has created a squad depth able to navigate multiple injuries, as seen by Noni Madueke and Riccardo Calafiori starting over Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie respectively.
The potential weak link, though, was at right back in Ben White. At fault for the Saints’ first goal on Saturday in a generally underwhelming display, that area presented the adventurous full back Araujo a chance to test his fortunes.
He did just that, Ousmane Diomande playing a sublime through ball with the outside of his boot which Araujo latched on to, leaving White for dust. His shot brushed Raya’s fingertips, hitting the crossbar on six minutes. That early reminder was further compounded by Catamo’s shot soon after.
Sporting were on the front foot and not relenting. The visitors soaked up the opening 10 minutes and regained the foothold. They struck the crossbar themselves via a Madueke corner that goalkeeper Silva had completely missed, the ball falling to Martin Odegaard. He powerfully dragged his shot wide, and should have done better.
At the other end, Sporting looked dangerous, particularly on their left flank. Silva played a long through ball, again on White’s side, but the attack was snuffed out.
Zubimendi’s awful pass to Raya was, luckily for him, booted out, tying into the general complacency scattered in Arsenal’s first-half display.
It was a familiar story — much possession, yet vulnerable on counter-attacks. They got better in the second half and were buoyed by Zubimendi’s close shave against the run of play.
Though, the final 15 minutes saw Sporting go close a number of times, including a series of Raya saves.
Havertz struck at the end to break Sporting hearts on a night that answered many pressing questions.
Arsenal are not close to giving up their silverware quest. The fight is there.
