Arsenal and Barca secured their places in the quarter-finals in dramatic fashion.

Barca narrowly advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Champions League.

In the first leg in Italy, Barca played poorly and were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli. Therefore, Xavi's team must win at home to advance to the next round.

Coach Xavi fielded the strongest possible lineup for this match and did not hesitate to attack right from the opening whistle. Under the pressure created by Barca, Napoli's defense could not hold firm.

In the 15th minute, Barca launched a brilliant attack down the left wing. Raphinha penetrated the penalty area and then delivered a perfect pass for Fermín López to tap the ball in, opening the scoring.

Kết quả Cúp C1 châu Âu: Arsenal và Barca giành vé vào tứ kết đầy kịch tính

Barca struggled to reach the quarter-finals of the European Champions League (Photo: Reuters)

Just two minutes after opening the scoring, Barca doubled their lead with a quick counter-attack. Raphinha dribbled at high speed into the penalty area and unleashed a powerful curling shot that beat the Porto goalkeeper, but it was denied by the post. Fortunately for Barca, the ball rebounded to Cancelo, who accurately tapped it in to make it 2-0.

After falling behind by two goals, Napoli found themselves chasing the game, so the Italian side pushed their formation higher up the pitch, putting considerable pressure on Barca's half. In the 30th minute, the visitors pulled one back through Amir Rrahmani, making the score 1-2.

In the second half, Napoli continued to trouble Barca. However, in the 83rd minute, Barca executed a brilliant attacking move, the ball reaching Robert Lewandowski, who tapped it in from close range to seal a 3-1 victory, thus sending Barca into the quarter-finals with a 4-2 aggregate win over two legs.

"Spider-Man" David Raya leads Arsenal into the quarter-finals.

In the other match played at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal struggled against Porto's disruptive style of play. It wasn't until the 41st minute, following a superb through pass from Martin Ødegaard, that Leandro Trossard scored the opening goal for the home team.

At this point, the aggregate score after two legs was 1-1, so Arsenal still needed another goal to secure their place in the next round. Therefore, manager Mikel Arteta instructed his players to proactively control the ball and launch relentless attacks towards Porto's goal.

Arsenal beat Porto on penalties to advance to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (Photo: Reuters).

Nevertheless, on a day when Porto's defense played with great focus under the command of veteran Pepe, Arsenal were unable to score any more goals in regular time.

In the two extra time periods, Arsenal continued to attack relentlessly in search of a goal, but without success, so the two teams had to go to a penalty shootout. In the shootout, goalkeeper David Raya became the hero for Arsenal when he successfully saved two shots from Porto to help Arsenal win 4-2 and secure a place in the quarter-finals.

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