Rice Blames Inexperience For Arsenal’s Loss To Porto

Declan Rice has blamed inexperience for Arsenal’s defeat to Porto in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash.

A 94th minute strike from Galeno earned the Portuguese giants the first leg advantage.

It extends Arsenal’s unimpressive record in Champions League knockout games as they still have not won outside of the group stages since 2010, having exited at the last 16 stage for seven consecutive years under Arsene Wenger.

Reacting to the defeat, Rice conceded that lack of nous cost Arsenal late on.

“I think the last minute is probably a bit of inexperience,” the England international said.

“Just probably having a bit more savviness, in terms of it’s the 93rd minute, you look up at the clock, it’s 0-0, we gave a ball away on the edge of our box twice and then he bends one in the top bins.

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“So we have got to have a bit of savviness to see out the game, because if you can’t win, definitely don’t lose – especially in a knockout game. But look, we are still positive. It is half-time in a two-leg tie and we will be ready for the next leg.

“You look at our team, we are such a young group. Some of us have not played in the Champions League before, so it is all about learning on the job.

“But we have to play better than we did tonight. They made it really tough, but in the second leg we will be ready to go and give it everything.

“I think it is good to have nerves – you get that experience and you need that to play in the biggest games. Whether there is nerves or no nerves, I think these are the type of games we need to learn from on the way and it is going to make us better overall.”

The Gunners will be back in action in the Premier League when they will host Newcastle United.