Pepe: Porto must be perfect to knock Arsenal out of Champions League

Porto captain Pepe has told his team-mates they need to be “perfect” to finish the job of dumping Arsenal out of the Champions League.

The Gunners fell to defeat on Wednesday night in the first leg of their last-16 tie here in Porto, with Galeno scoring the only goal in the 94th minute.

Porto put on an impressive defensive performance to shut out Arsenal, who failed to muster a single shot on target.

Pepe, who turns 41 on Monday, was at the heart of their display but has warned his team-mates they will need to be flawless when they head to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg in two weeks’ time.

Arsenal have a lot of quality, but we put on a great performance and won with a great goal

Pepe

“We got an excellent result,” he said. “In London it will be even harder, so we have to go in even more focused than we did today. We have to be perfect.

“Galeno’s goal was very important, as we want to qualify for the quarter-finals. We knew it was going to be a tough game, as Arsenal have a lot of quality, but we put on a great performance and won with a great goal.”

Arsenal struggled with a lack of experience last night, but Pepe used all of his to lead Porto to victory and treat himself to an early birthday present.

This was his 48th Champions League knockout game, while 10 of Arsenal’s starting XI were appearing in their first.

Pepe has always been a canny operator, but even more so now, given his age, and as he left the pitch last night he was collared by Rio Ferdinand.

Pepe turns 41 years old next week (AP)

The former Manchester United defender, who was working for TNT Sports as a pundit, wanted to congratulate the centre-back on a great performance but also ask how he still manages to perform at the top level in the twilight of his career.

“He’s 41 on Monday,” said Ferdinand. “It’s ridiculous to think how he’s getting his body through. That’s what I was saying to him: how are you doing this? He said, ‘I’m still strong’. We said it off air, but it’s in the mind at that point.”

The worry for Arsenal is that they never really exposed Pepe. Only once did Gabriel Martinelli drift inside to test the veteran’s pace. It will need to be a different story in the second leg and Mikel Arteta must be hoping to have Gabriel Jesus back for that.

Leandro Trossard has performed well as a false nine recently, but he is not quite as sharp as Jesus, who is currently out with a knee issue.