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<\/div>\nArsenal arrived at the Est\u00e1dio Jos\u00e9 Alvalade on Tuesday, 7 April 2026, under massive pressure. Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad walked into this quarter-final after losing two games in a row for the first time all season, which was a slump that has already put a dent in their hunt for silverware. Even though they finished top of the Champions League group stage, their recent wobbles in the domestic season threatened to undermine their European confidence at the worst time. Still, there\u2019s no denying that Arsenal are one of the most exciting and ambitious teams in Europe right now.<\/p>\n
The match, the Performance, and the problem<\/h2>\n
Coming off the bench, Kai Havertz steered home a last-minute winner to help Arsenal go past Sporting CP. The result gives them a vital one-goal lead to take back to the Emirates on 15 April. For most of the night, the game was a tight, scoreless grind. Both teams hit the post in the first 15 minutes, a first for the Champions League this season, setting the stage for a match that was low on highlights but high on tension.<\/p>\n
Martin Zubimendi thought he\u2019d broken the deadlock after 63 minutes, but VAR ruled it out because Viktor Gy\u00f6keres was offside earlier in the move. In the end, Havertz kept his head, finishing a pass from Gabriel Martinelli to snatch the lead. Interestingly, that goal was Arsenal\u2019s fourth in the competition this year, with both the scorer and the assister as substitutes, more than any other team. On the defensive side, this was their seventh clean sheet in 11 European games, proving just how disciplined Arteta has made them.<\/p>\n
Martin Odegaard’s injury<\/h2>\n
However, the real story broke before the game even ended. Martin Odegaard has already sat out 121 days and 23 matches this season. When he went down in the 70th minute, he looked in pain, pointing toward his leg while the medical staff checked him over. Arteta later claimed the sub was partly tactical and just a precaution, but fans aren\u2019t buying it. With Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber already out, the injury list is starting to look brutal right when the season hits its peak. (Via GOAL<\/a>)<\/p>\n Saliba gets 6\/10 \u2013 Arsenal Player Ratings from first leg victory against Sporting CP<\/p>\n To be honest, the answer is yes, and it\u2019s been that way for a while. The most frustrating part isn\u2019t just that Odegaard is injured again; it\u2019s that the club seem to be in denial about how his body is struggling with such a packed schedule. Arteta\u2019s precautionary talk after the Lisbon game sounded more like a scripted excuse than the truth.<\/p>\n Arsenal planning summer transfer for stunning Barcelona star \u2013 Arteta would be delighted to sign \u00a355m attacker<\/p>\n While the squad has plenty of talent, Havertz proved that with his finish, the way this team create chances still depends almost entirely on one player. That\u2019s a compliment to Odegaard\u2019s talent, but it\u2019s also a huge risk that Arteta hasn\u2019t fixed in the transfer market. You can\u2019t try to reach back-to-back Champions League semi-finals for the first time in club history while trying to nurse a fragile captain through games of this size. The second leg is on 15 April, and Arsenal need a real solution for the Odegaard problem before then.<\/p>\n \nAre Arsenal\u2019s injury crisis with Odegaard finally exposing the limits of their squad depth?<\/h2>\n