A familiar Champions League foe awaits Arsenal on Wednesday evening, as the Gunners travel to the Estadio do Dragao to tackle Porto in the first leg of their last-16 showdown.
Mikel Arteta's troops took 13 points from a possible 18 in Group B against PSV Eindhoven, Sevilla and Lens, finishing at the top of the section with a game to spare and conceding just four goals along the way.
Meanwhile, Porto's tally of 12 points in Group H saw them match Barcelona's tally, and Sergio Conceicao's side even bettered the Blaugrana's goal difference, but they were condemned to finish second owing to their pair of defeats to the La Liga champions.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 6
Porto wins: 2
Draws: 1
Arsenal wins: 3
During the mid-point of the Arsene Wenger era, Arsenal and Porto clashed six times in Europe's premier competition, most recently butting heads 14 years ago during the last 16 of the 2009-10 tournament.
On that occasion, two goalkeeping howlers from Lukasz Fabianski handed Porto a controversial 2-1 first-leg win, in which the decisive goal came via a free kick taken too quickly for Arsenal's liking after the Polish goalkeeper had picked up a backpass by Sol Campbell.
Campbell had equalised for Arsenal on the evening before Radamel Falcao benefitted from the bizarre set-piece episode, but the Gunners put things right at the Emirates three weeks later, as the mercurial Nicklas Bendtner netted a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition to seal a 6-2 aggregate success.
The 2009-10 affair - which also marks the most recent time that Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League - succeeded two group-stage meetings between the Gunners and Porto in the 2008-09 season, where Wenger's men were 4-0 victors at home but then fell to a 2-0 loss in Portugal.
Porto's two-goal triumph in the second of those encounters ended a three-game winless and scoreless streak against the Gunners, whom they met for the first time in competitive action in the 2006-07 season, Arsenal's first at their new Emirates home.
Thierry Henry and Aleksandr Hleb were on target in a 2-0 Arsenal victory during their inaugural clash with Porto in the group stages, but a far more low-key reverse fixture on the Dragons' turf ended in a goalless draw, albeit one which was enough to send both teams through to the last 16.
As a result, Arsenal make the trip to Portugal with three wins to show from their six previous clashes with Porto, although all of those successes have come at the Emirates, with the North London crop still awaiting their first triumph at the Estadio do Dragao.
However, not since their famous 2003-04 run to glory have Porto eliminated an English team from the Champions League, overcoming Manchester United in the 2003-04 last 16, and seven of their last eight contests versus Premier League teams have seen them bow out.
Last six meetings
March 9, 2010: Arsenal 5-0 Porto (Champions League last-16 second leg)
February 17, 2010: Porto 2-1 Arsenal (Champions League last-16 first leg)
December 10, 2008: Porto 2-0 Arsenal (Champions League group stage)
September 30, 2008: Arsenal 4-0 Porto (Champions League group stage)
December 6, 2006: Porto 0-0 Arsenal (Champions League group stage)
September 26, 2006: Arsenal 2-0 Porto (Champions League group stage)
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Ben Knapton
