Arsenal are through. That is the first and most important sentence after Sporting. No goal conceded, another clean sheet for David Raya, and the club is in the Champions League semi-finals for a second year in a row. In Arsenal's European history, that is not a small thing. It deserves respect.
But once the first layer of satisfaction is removed, the feeling remains that something is still grinding. Arsenal did not score. Arsenal did not break Sporting. At the start, they showed bite and looked ready to squeeze the game early, but after that the same stiffness returned, the one that has followed this team for weeks.
It was not a disaster. Far from it. In the knockout stage of the Champions League, sometimes it is enough to be serious, compact and cold. But before what comes on Sunday, being serious will not be enough. The Etihad demands more. Much more.
After the match, Arteta spoke about gratitude to his players and admitted the team is not perfect, while stressing how much work sits behind this qualification. That is fair. Arsenal did push through a huge European task. Still, the other part of his message now matters even more: Arsenal have things to improve.
Because Sunday brings the game of the season. If Manchester City win, Arsenal move into a zone where the table is no longer the only thing that matters. It becomes about breath on the neck, goal difference, the run-in and nerves. If the season comes down to both teams winning everything from there, every goal, every set-piece and every loose touch can carry the weight of a trophy.
That is why the draw with Sporting, however historic the qualification may be, must not hide the problem. Arsenal currently look like a team that knows what it must do, but does not always play like a team that fully believes it can do it. As if the foot starts moving toward the accelerator, then pulls back halfway.
Arteta says Arsenal will not go to City looking for a draw. Before Sporting, he called for "no fear" and "pure fire", and the talk of fire is no longer just a nice motivational line. It is now an obligation. If that fire has been prepared, the Etihad is where it has to be seen.
Thierry Henry put it in the way only Henry can: talking is easy, show it against City. The club legend did not tear Arteta down. Quite the opposite, you can feel that he believes in him. But that is exactly why the message carries weight. When the most important voices in Arsenal's history say it is time to fulfil the promise, it is no longer pressure from the outside. It is a call from within.
Arsenal are in the Champions League semi-finals. That sounds big, because it is big. But this season will not be measured only by who survived a European night. It will be measured by who can go to the Etihad and not look as if they need permission to believe in themselves.
On Sunday, Arsenal do not need perfect football. They do not need Wenger-era lightness or a beautiful performance for the archives. They need an Arsenal that can suffer, but also an Arsenal that can hit back. A team that does not wait for pressure to pass, but steps into it.
Sporting was a job completed. The Etihad is a question of character.
Author: B.