Arsenal have drawn FC Porto in the Champions League Round of 16, with the Gunners set to play away from home in the first leg.

Sol Campbell Tomas Rosicky
Arsenal’s defender Sol Campbell (R) celebrates with teammate Arsenal’s Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky (L) after scoring against FC Porto during their UEFA Champions League football match at the Dragao Stadium in Porto, on February 17, 2010. (Photo: MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)

Arsenal learned their first Champions League knockout opponents in Monday’s draw, with former Chelsea defender John Terry picking out FC Porto as the Gunners’ opponents.

As Arsenal won their group, and Porto were runners-up in theirs, Arsenal will get the advantage of playing the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.

The first leg will take place on February 13th, 14th, 20th, or 21st, with the second leg to be played on March 5th, 6th, 12th, or 13th. The final dates should be determined before 17:00 GMT.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium on September 20, 2023. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the team’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium on September 20, 2023. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Arsenal have faced Porto on six different occasions across three seasons, after being drawn alongside the Portuguese side in the group stage in 2006/07 and 2008/09, before playing them in the last-16 in 2009/10.

On all three occasions, Arsenal failed to win the away game, but they did win the home game.

In 2006/07, Arsenal won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Thierry Henry and Alexander Hleb, before drawing 0-0 away.

In 2008/09, Arsenal thrashed Porto 4-0 with two braces from Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor, before losing 2-0 later in the group stage.

Finally, in 2009/10, Arsenal suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in Portugal, but they turned things around at the Emirates with a Nicklas Bendtner hat-trick and a Samir Nasri individual effort in a 5-0 win. Emmanuel Eboue was also on the scoresheet.

Champions League Last-16 draw in full

Arsenal's Italian midfielder #20 Jorginho (C) celebrates with teammates after their opening goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B football match between Arsenal and Sevilla at the Emirates Stadium in north London on November 8, 2023. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Jorginho (C) celebrates with teammates after their opening goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B football match between Arsenal and Sevilla at the Emirates Stadium in north London on November 8, 2023. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
  • FC Porto vs Arsenal
  • Napoli vs Barcelona
  • PSG vs Real Sociedad
  • Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid
  • PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund
  • Lazio vs Bayern Munich
  • Copenhagen vs Manchester City
  • RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid

Edu on Arsenal’s draw

Speaking after the draw, Edu said: “We are going to play against a club that is very used to playing in the competition because they play in it every single year and they have a lot of players as well with big experience.

“We have to understand how are we going to play and respect them as much as we can. We will play our game and see if we can go through this stage.

“We can see how they are playing, how organized they are, and the players that they have. Porto is a club that you have to be really prepared to play against or we’ll have problems, so what we have to concentrate on is maintaining our levels and the way we are playing.

“The most important thing for us is to maintain our performances and the way we are playing,” the Brazilian added. “That’s our focus, that’s where we want to be and want to keep growing, so let’s see how far we can go in the competition.

“We want to try and go as far as possible, but we are very much concentrating on playing well, performing well and playing the best football we can, and then we’ll see how far we go.”