On March 9, 2010, Niklas Bendtner scored a penalty and completed his hat-trick. Arsenal beat Porto 5-0 in the Champions Leaguethe Gunners overturned a deficit in the first leg to seal their place in the quarter-finals.
It took 14 years and three days, but Arsenal are back in the last eight of the Champions League. The scenario is a match against Porto, a penalty shootout, and another comeback in the second leg.
This time it wasn't the penalty scorers that grabbed the headlines, but the penalty savers, with David Raya denying Porto twice. Won in a 4-2 shootout.
Arsenal bounced back from that. Last gasp 1-0 defeat in PortugalLeandro Trossard's goal tied the score and forced extra time, and the tension was high, but the quality was low.
But when Raya flew to his left to stop Galeno's penalty, there was an eruption of unbridled joy at the Emirates Stadium after nearly a decade and a half.
“Fourteen years is a long time for a club like Arsenal and it shows how difficult it has been,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.
“We had to really try to find that last magical moment. We are starting to create an incredible energy in the stadium, we all have to make it happen. We were pushing for it, and we did it together.”
Arsenal ended their status as a European power in the 2009-10 Champions League.
Having defeated Porto in the last 16, they suffered a similar fate at the hands of Barcelona in the quarter-finals. Lost 4-1 in the second leg Lionel Messi scored all four goals.
A return to the Champions League quarter-finals comes just days after Arsenal topped the Premier League, with the Gunners re-establishing themselves as a continental powerhouse with the mentality to win tough games on the biggest stage. There are growing expectations.
“The consequences are significant, but the impact is even greater.”
“Yes, the result itself is huge, but the overall impact is even bigger,” former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson told BBC 5 Live.
“There are a lot of positive things for Arsenal in the Premier League and the rest of this competition.
“We will take a lot from this game, the experience of winning on penalties against a tough and cunning opponent like Porto and overcoming it.”
Once the euphoria wears off, this is no longer the perennial European glamor tie. They committed 74 fouls in both legs, tied for the most in a Champions League knockout tournament since the 2015-16 season.
However, although Arsenal were beaten and bruised, they were definitely better for the experience.
Former Gunners winger Theo Walcott told 5Live: “The experience of being in a penalty shootout at this level and winning it is something that the players will remember and remember a lot.”
“They now know what it takes to win this moment.
“They were frustrated at times with Porto, but they will know how to deal with it, understand it and not react to it in the future.”
After defeating Porto in 2010, Arsenal suffered seven defeats in the last 16 of the Champions League for seven consecutive seasons.
That run has also included severe humiliations, including being kicked out the last time he competed on this stage in 2017. Bayern Munich total 10-2.
“I’m very proud of the team.”
What followed was a six-year absence from Europe's top competition, but the current squad is looking to make up for lost time and restore Arsenal's place among the elite.
“Of course, for me personally it's a great feeling to be playing in the Champions League for the first time and for the club to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in many years,” Raya told TNT Sports.
“This means everything. You play football for this purpose, but I'm lucky to be able to play for Arsenal, to be in the Champions League and to get to the quarter-finals. Just enjoy it.''
Arsenal are doing well so far, but the challenge is to stay there and start from the next game.
Nineteen days after the international break, Arsenal face Man City in a blockbuster Premier League match. The key is to maintain this good mood until then.
“I'm excited. I'm very proud of the team. We showed a lot of character,” Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka told TNT Sports.
“Currently we are top of the Premier League and are in the quarter-finals.” [of the Champions League].
“That gave us a lot of confidence that we can go to the Etihad and get a result. These games are for us to play football.”
It will be a completely new challenge for Arteta, a manager who is juggling a Champions League campaign with a domestic title race for the first time, but he is ready for it.
“That's what we're aiming for,” he said. “We have persevered and worked hard. Many have made the right decisions and shown courage in difficult moments. This is where you want to be.”