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04/15 15:57 CDT Arsenal advances to Champions League semifinals for the second
year in a row
Arsenal advances to Champions League semifinals for the second year in a row
By JAMES ROBSON
AP Soccer Writer
It's back-to-back Champions League semifinals for Arsenal.
A 0-0 draw with Sporting Lisbon at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday saw
Arsenal advance 1-0 on aggregate to set up a clash with Atletico Madrid in the
last four of European club soccer's top competition.
It means a Premier League and Champions League double remains possible for
Mikel Arteta's team, despite a slump in form in recent weeks.
Arsenal has never won the European Cup and only once reached the final. But it
is now just two games away from this year's showpiece in Budapest, Hungary.
Kai Havertz's late winner in the first leg of the quarterfinals in Portugal
last week proved to be decisive as Sporting failed to find a breakthrough in
London.
It is the fourth time Arsenal has advanced to the semifinals, having lost to
eventual winner Paris Saint-Germain at that stage last season.
The result was the perfect way for Arsenal to start a crucial week in which it
also plays Premier League title rival Manchester City on Sunday.
There have been signs of the tension getting to Arteta's players as the season
enters the closing stages, having lost the English League Cup final against
City and then crashing out of the FA Cup at the hands of second-division
Southampton.
Defeat at home in the league against Bournemouth last weekend only added to the
sense that Arsenal was faltering at a critical time.
But Arteta insisted there was "zero fear" ahead of the second leg against
Lisbon and his team got the job done in another tight encounter between the two.
Substitute Leandro Trossard came closest to winning it for Arsenal on the night
when heading against the post late on.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
