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On 9 March 2010, Nicklas Bendtner scored a penalty to seal his hat-trick in <\/span>a 5-0 Arsenal win over Porto in the Champions League<\/span><\/a>, as the Gunners confirmed their place in the quarter-finals by overturning a first-leg deficit.<\/span><\/p>\n It has taken 14 years and three days, but Arsenal are back in the Champions League last eight – with Porto, penalties and a second-leg comeback once again in the script.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n This time, it was not a penalty scorer who took the headlines but a penalty saver, with David Raya denying Porto twice in <\/span>a 4-2 shootout victory.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Arsenal had recovered from <\/span>a last-gasp 1-0 loss in Portugal<\/span><\/a>, with Leandro Trossard’s goal forcing extra time in a tie often high on tension but low on quality.<\/span><\/p>\n But when Raya flew to his left to stop Galeno’s penalty, it sparked a release of unbridled joy in Emirates Stadium, nearly a decade and a half in the making.<\/span><\/p>\n “It has been 14 years, which is a long time for a club like Arsenal and it shows how difficult it was,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.<\/span><\/p>\n “We really had to dig in to find the magic moment at the end. We’re starting to create an unbelievable energy in the stadium, we were all pushing to get it done and together we have done it.”<\/span><\/p>\n Arsenal’s 2009-10 Champions League campaign marked the end of their status as a European power. <\/span><\/p>\n Having dismantled Porto in the last 16, they suffered a similar fate themselves at the hands of Barcelona in the quarter-finals – including <\/span>a 4-1 second-leg loss<\/span><\/a> in which Lionel Messi scored all four.<\/span><\/p>\n With their return to the Champions League quarter-finals coming days after Arsenal went top of the Premier League, there is growing hope the Gunners are re-establishing themselves as a continental force with the mentality to win tough games on the biggest stage.<\/span><\/p>\n “Yes this result itself is massive, but the fallout overall is even bigger,” former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson told BBC 5 Live.<\/span><\/p>\n “In the Premier League and in the rest of this competition, there are a lot of positives for Arsenal to take.<\/span><\/p>\n “This experience, winning a penalty shootout against tough, wily opponents like Porto and coming through it, they will have gained so much from this match.”<\/span><\/p>\n When the elation dies down, this was not a glamour European tie for the ages. There were 74 fouls over the two legs – the most in a Champions League knockout tie since 2015-16.<\/span><\/p>\n But Arsenal are through – battered and bruised, but surely better for the experience.<\/span><\/p>\n “The experience of being in a penalty shootout at this level, and winning it, is something that the players will remember and take a lot from,” said former Gunners winger Theo Walcott on 5 Live.<\/span><\/p>\n “They will know what it takes to win these moments now.<\/span><\/p>\n “They were frustrated at times by Porto, but they dealt with it, will understand it and know how not to react to it going forwards.”<\/span><\/p>\n After beating Porto in 2010, Arsenal suffered seven exits in the Champions League last 16 in seven consecutive seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n‘The result is massive, the fallout is bigger’<\/h3>\n