Get the latest news delivered to your inbox for FREE by signing up for our e-newsletter.
We have newsletters
Get the latest news delivered to your inbox for FREE by signing up for our e-newsletter.
We have newsletters
Arsenal secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 after beating Porto in a dramatic match in the Emirates.
Trailing 1-0 after the first leg in Portugal, Arsenal opened the scoring and equalised just before the break through Leandro Trossard. Neither team could find the elusive winning goal in the 90 minutes and after stoppage time, meaning consequences were needed to see who. Progressed.
After David Raya made two perfect saves, it was the Gunners who booked their spot in the quarter-finals. It is the first time Arsenal have reached this level in 14 years after this team, led by legendary manager Arsene Wenger, achieved a 6-2 victory. overall win over Porto.
They beat the Portuguese 5-0 in the second leg thanks to a hat-trick from Nicklas Bendtner and goals from Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Eboue. Here, Mirror Football took a look at the starting XI of this game and its current situation. . .
Almunia joined the Gunners in July 2004 as a repositioning of Jens Lehman after a full season of unbeaten Premier League. He settled for the second national team in his first two years at the club, before clinching the top spot before the 2007/08 season.
In total, Almunia made 175 appearances over seven successful years in the Emirates before leaving to sign for West Ham. The Spaniard went on to play for Watford before retiring from football on medical advice in 2014. Almost 10 years later, Almunia is now a coach at Al Jazeera in Abu Dhabi.
After impressing in his home France, Sagna left Auxerre for Arsenal in July 2007. He was a regular with the Gunners for several seasons, making more than 250 appearances before joining Manchester City. However, Sagna did not stay at the Etihad for long, and left after 3 years.
Sagna then played for Benevento and the Montreal Impact before lacing up his boots and entering a whole new industry. He invested £220,000 of his own cash in French backpack company Gravipack and has now partnered with the company that sells “zero-gravity backpacks” for £200.
The Belgian, who left Ajax for Arsenal in June 2009, suffered a good percentage of injuries during his time in the Emirates. He was limited to just 150 appearances in five years before moving to Barcelona. Vermaelen continued to play until 2022 after additional seasons at Roma and Vissel Kobe.
After retiring, Vermaelen joined Roberto Martinez’s squad in the Belgian national team ahead of the 2022 World Cup. But the tournament went disastrously for the Red Devils and they were eliminated at the organizational level after failing to win any of their 3 games.
Martinez was sacked shortly afterwards and has been Portugal’s new boss ever since. As for Vermaelen, he is now looking for his next coaching position.
Campbell returned for a moment with the Gunners in January 2010 after leaving Notts County. He made 14 appearances in a brief six-month period in north London before moving to Newcastle. However, the former England defender left the club in 2011 and retired from professional football. football a year later.
Since retiring from football, Campbell has stood for the Conservative Party’s nomination for mayor of London in 2016, but made it to the final list. Campbell then moved into football management, taking over Macclesfield in 2018 and then Southend the following season.
Trained in Cannes, Clichy signed for Arsenal in 2003 and was part of the Invincibles in their first season. He began his career with the Gunners as a repositioning of Ashley Cole before cementing his position in the team under Wenger. During the 2007–08 season, he appeared in each and every Premier League match.
Clichy left Arsenal after 264 appearances and joined Manchester City in the summer of 2011. The Frenchman spent six successful years at the Etihad, winning several major trophies before joining Istanbul Basaksehir. He finished his career after a spell at Servette and has been a coach ever since. .
He is now the assistant to Gunners legend Thierry Henry for France Under-21s. Clichy also worked as an expert for Sky Sports politics in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Liverpool last month.
After starting his career at Marseille, Nasri signed for Arsenal in 2008 and spent three successful years (scoring 15 goals in his final season) at the Emirates. However, his decision to sign for Manchester City in 2011 infuriated many Gunners enthusiasts and he has been unable to win them back since.
After six years and winning two Premier League titles at City, Nasri played for Sevilla, Antalyaspor and West Ham before completing his career at Anderlecht in 2020. Nasri has kept a low profile in recent years but has faced an angry Arsenal supporter. witnessing their 1-0 win over City in October.
Song, a brilliant player in Arsenal’s midfield for six years, moved to Barcelona in 2012. He later admitted that his departure from the Gunners was due to the money he presented after struggling to gain playing time at Barca. In fact, the midfielder spent two years at the Camp Nou before arriving on loan at West Ham.
Song, who went on to play for Rubin Kazan and Sion, officially announced his retirement last year after spending the last three years of his playing career in Djibouti. Song is now a real estate developer in Cameroon.
Diaby, the fourth and final Frenchman in the starting eleven, could have done a lot more if he had been compatible and hadn’t had terrible injuries with injuries. He made 180 appearances in nine years for the Gunners and hung up his boots in 2019 after a spell at Marseille.
Since then, he has created the Abou Diathrough Foundation and hopes to make this work a good fortune while fighting poverty in Africa and Asia by offering jobs and livelihood opportunities.
Rosicky, a cult hero from north London, spent a decade at Arsenal and made 247 appearances in a successful stay, scoring 28 goals and winning the FA Cup twice. He returned to where it all began at Sparta Prague for the final year of his playing career. And that’s where it is now.
Rosicky first as an assistant to sporting director Zdenek Scasny, before taking on that role in December 2018, when Scasny became head coach. Sparta currently hold a four-point lead in the league’s most sensible tournament and will face Liverpool in the second leg of the Europa League circular at 4pm on Thursday.
Starting his career at Zenit St. Petersburg, Arshavin played more than three hundred games for his boyhood club before joining Arsenal in 2008. He produced some magical moments, notably scoring four goals in the 4–4 draw against Liverpool in April 2009, an entertaining experience. 4-year stay in the Emirates.
After leaving Arsenal, Arshavin returned to Zenit before his latest move saw him sign for Kazakh side Kairat. He retired from professional football in 2018 and pledged to fight alongside Russia in its war against Ukraine if he enlisted.
Bendtner, a striker who provides rare moments of quality, is known for his hat-trick against Porto. After being on loan at Juventus and Sunderland, the Dane joined Wolfsburg on a permanent contract after his contract expired after scoring forty-five goals in 171 appearances for Arsenal.
However, Bendtner’s career has been slowly declining since then. He played for Nottingham Forest, Rosenborg and Copenhagen before retiring from the game in 2019. He now hosts a Danish TV show, in which pranks celebrities and members of the public are played.
Join our new WhatsApp network and get your fix of Mirror Football content. We also provide members of our network with special offers, promotions and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our network, you can check it out at any time. . If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.