Rice: "We’ll need everyone in second leg"

Declan Rice is expecting Emirates Stadium to be "rocking" when we welcome Porto to London for the second leg next month.

We were moments away from earning a draw from the first leg in Portugal before Brazilian Galeno scored a screamer to give the hosts a narrow advantage at half-time in the tie.

After the final whistle, a disappointed Rice said he’s confident that with our supporters behind the team, we can turn around the tie in the second leg. “We’ll need absolutely everyone,” he said. “The Emirates is going to be rocking. We feel that when it's like that at our stadium it’s obviously one of the best places in the world to play football so we'll be ready for it, I’m already looking forward to it and fans get right behind us. We'll need everyone.”

The midfielder added it was a hugely frustrating night, especially given our recent results since the turn of the year.

“So frustrating,” he said. “We worked really hard, prepared really well. Obviously it wasn't meant to be in terms of the way we created the chances tonight. After the start of 2024 we had, there’s a lot to learn, a lot to take from tonight.

“I think that's a real positive, obviously to concede late is a real kick in the teeth but the positive is it’s half-time in two legs. We've got the home leg now, which we're going to be fully up for with our fans, and have that goal to reach the quarter-final.”

On a night where the referee blew for 36 fouls during the 90 minutes, Declan himself had to be disciplined, after picking up a yellow card just 65 seconds into the game. Despite that early setback, he won seven duels – the joint most of any Arsenal player on the night. He said it was important to remain focussed after that early booking. 

“It's really tough when you look up at a clock and you see one minute thirty and you've been booked, especially for a player like me who makes tackles, and gets involved in that type of game.

“You have to use your head, use your experience and know that you can't really be getting involved in too many other duels. But I did get involved in some other duels and won my tackles. Like I said, it's just about having that savviness and you know and playing with the brain.”