Arsenal left Lisbon with a 1-0 lead and rather more baggage than a clean set of travelling clothes.
Kai Havertz’s stoppage-time winner secured the first-leg result Mikel Arteta needed heading into next week’s second leg at the Emirates. But the manner of the performance, coming on the back of two consecutive defeats for the first time this season, has triggered a broader conversation about the Arsenal manager that goes well beyond tactics.
Al Jazeera reported this week that certain members of Arsenal’s hierarchy are concerned about Arteta’s emotional intensity at crucial moments, with sources suggesting his demeanour under pressure could be holding the team back. It is an unusual thing to report about a manager whose side leads the Premier League by nine points with seven games to go and has just reached the Champions League quarter-finals. But the anxiety is real and rooted in three successive runner-up finishes in the league.
Sporting had not lost at home in 17 consecutive games before Tuesday night, and had won all five of their Champions League home fixtures this season, including against PSG. Arsenal won there with a single goal from a substitute in injury time, after the home side registered more shots on target than their visitors. The 5-1 league phase win in the same city earlier this season felt like a distant memory.
Arteta addressed the criticism head-on before the game. “From the first game of the season, that’s going to be questioned,” he said. “There’s always going to be a question mark and that’s it. You have to live the present, you have to deliver it every day.” He added: “I’m going to defend them more than ever. Someone has to take responsibility. That’s me, and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us.”
His players echoed that tone publicly. Christian Norgaard had set the mood before the trip to Portugal, saying the squad’s message was to “have a positive body language, to talk with your teammates, with the coaching staff.” That kind of pre-match statement tends to emerge when something internal has needed addressing.
The injury situation complicates everything. Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber did not travel to Lisbon and are hoped to be available for Saturday’s visit of Bournemouth. Arsenal’s attack has looked blunt without Saka in particular, with Viktor Gyokeres yet to score a non-penalty Premier League goal in his last eleven appearances.
Against his former club in a career-defining fixture, Gyokeres barely made an impression. Arteta had spoken about the striker’s excitement at returning to the Alvalade. “He’s never played at this level in the competition,” the manager said, “and obviously you can imagine what it means to him.” What it produced in practice was nine touches in the first half and a VAR-disallowed goal that would have changed the night.
Arsenal have the result they need. Whether they have the performance to back it up at the Emirates next week is less certain. The title is still theirs to lose. The Champions League is still very much alive. But the questions Arteta has been asked for three years about his team’s ability to deliver when it truly matters have not yet received their answer.
