Delirium, ecstasy, find the words you like to describe it, but Arsenal and their fans won’t mind; they’re in the last eight of the Champions League for the first time in fourteen years.

FC Porto had won the first leg of their round-of-16 clash against Arsenal at the Estadio de Dragao in Portugal three weeks ago and only needed a draw to advance to the quarterfinals. They have been full of talk and confidence; they believed it was their tie to lose.

Mikel Arteta maintained the same line-up as the one that beat Brentford in the league on Saturday, with Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, and Alexander Zinchenko all on the bench, with Takehiro Tomiyasu returning to the squad after recovering from injury.

Porto stood firm with their tactics, stuck to their shape, and looked like a team that was in London to upset the odds. They had only scored once in their last five trips to England, and that was Luis Diaz’s goal against Manchester City in 2019.

Arsenal was getting frustrated as the first half looked like it was ending goalless. Martin Odegaard set up Leandro Trossard, and the Belgian drilled a low one past Diogo Costa in the Porto goal. It was a goal that leveled the tie, setting up a frenetic second half.

The second half was keenly contested; Porto stuck to their game plan, Arsenal got a goal disallowed early on, and they struggled to create much from there. Porto played for penalties; they got what they wanted in that regard but failed to win it from six yards out.

David Raya had just two saves to deal with in regulation time, but he was the hero of the penalty kicks. His save from Galeno sent Arsenal through to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010. The stadium went into bedlam, Mikel Arteta was in celebration, and the entire Arsenal squad was in dreamland.

"For them to do it when the club hasn't done it for 14 years, that tells you the difficulty," Arteta, whose side has won eight successive Premier League games to edge ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool, told reporters. "They are willing to sacrifice anything to win."

Arsenal goes into the quarterfinal draws on Friday, full of confidence and hoping for the same spirit to get them further. They don’t play again in the league until the 31^st of March; it’s a trip to Manchester City, and it is one that will define their season.