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Arsenal are through to the Champions League semi-finals. A goalless draw against Sporting at the Emirates was enough to complete a 1-0 aggregate win after Kai Havertz settled the first leg in Lisbon, sending Mikel Arteta’s side into a last four meeting with Atlético Madrid. It is the first time in the club’s history that Arsenal have reached consecutive European Cup or Champions League semi-finals.

The Gunners recorded their eighth clean sheet in 12 Champions League matches this season, and found a way through a tie that was far tighter than many expected after the draw was made. But if this was meant to be a statement night, it was a strange one. The statement was less that Arsenal are irresistible and more that we are stubborn, organised and still standing.

This was not one of those European nights where the stadium carries the team into something memorable. It was tense from the start, shaped by our recent stumble against Bournemouth and by the knowledge that one Sporting goal would turn the whole evening. We had plenty of the ball, but most of the time we were happy to keep the ball safe rather than play the ball forward with speed. When we did try to play around the Sporting rearguard, the final ball almost never arrived with enough conviction.

Sporting created the clearest chance of the first half when Geny Catamo met Maximiliano Araujo’s cross and volleyed against the post just before the break. Martinelli threatened in flashes, while Madueke had his moments before going off hurt. In the second half, Trossard, who came came in for Martinelli, headed onto the post from a corner. Joao Simoes then dragged a stoppage-time effort wide for Sporting. At both ends, the margins were narrow. Arsenal were not being overrun, but we were never one clean attacking sequence away from killing the tie either.

There is a reason this second leg felt like an exercise in anxiety management. Arsenal had already done the hard part in Portugal. The first leg was a night when David Raya produced five saves, Havertz scored in stoppage time, and we left Lisbon with an advantage that looked slightly better than the performance itself. We won ugly in Lisbon, and that first-leg edge shaped everything about the return.

That context matters because it explains the trade Arsenal made here. We sacrificed some ambition for security, where we prioritised rest defence over attacking flow. We trusted our centre-backs and midfielders to keep the game in front of them rather than opening it up in search of a more satisfying victory. We shut off many of the routes Sporting wanted in transition, especially later in the second half.

Martin Zubimendi, the Player of the Match, and Declan Rice were not spectacular in the glamorous sense, but they were repeatedly where they needed to be. They protected the centre, recycled possession, and made sure Sporting never enjoyed sustained waves of pressure. Rice’s contribution becomes even more impressive because he had been struggling physically and was bed-ridden just days before the game.

We have reached two consecutive Champions League semi-finals for the first time in our history and are still the only unbeaten side in this season’s Champions League. However, our attack still looks laboured when the game slows down and spaces tighten. Atletico Madrid will offer a much harsher examination of our capacity to create clear chances under pressure. We do not need everything to sparkle in April, but we do need to create and take our chances if we want to reach the final.