We may not have been at our absolute best against Arsenal, but it was a vital win.

We needed a result against a good side – and Arsenal are a very good side at the moment – and we got it.

It wasn’t an easy game because we had key players missing again and we also have some new players still settling in, but overall, we did very well.

We created chances and limited Arsenal to a couple of good opportunities – which Ederson dealt with brilliantly – and got the three points as well as a clean sheet.

We were good against Wolves and Leeds as well, and Leicester was just one of those games that probably won’t be repeated for a long time, but hopefully this victory will give us a platform for the rest of the campaign.

I back everything that’s happening in football at the moment, but I do feel for the players because it can’t be easy playing in an empty stadium.

It was a novelty at first, but the players need the fans and the fans need the players and the sooner we can get people back in stadiums, the better.

It’s such an important part of everyone’s life and we need it to return as soon as it reasonably safe to do so.

I’m lucky in that I get into watch the matches as part of my role, but we all miss the roar of the crowd, the songs, and the shared experience of watching football..

On to this game and Porto won’t be an easy start to the group stages. This is the Champions League and a different challenge than the Premier League, and I think we will have learned a lesson from our defeat to Lyon last August and I firmly believe our time will come in this competition.

Each year, we learn more and eventually, good things will happen.

Finally, I’d like to pay tribute to Pablo Zabaleta who announced his retirement from playing last week

All great players have to retire at some stage and Zaba was most certainly a great player. He was also a great guy to know and he will be fondly remembered by our fans for many years to come because he was sort of a folk hero to them.

He came to Manchester in 2008, signing on the Thursday and playing on the Saturday – and he never looked back from that moment on.

He is a great example of any player coming from overseas of how to adapt to a new country, league and home and he most certainly made Manchester his home.

He might even come back and do my job in the future! Having said that, I hope I’ve still got a few more years left in the tank.

Enjoy the game and keep safe.

Mike.

Our opponents

Porto, much like City, returned in June with all cylinders firing.

That said, their first game after the restart was a 2-1 loss to FC Famalicão – that saw Porto nudged out of top spot in the Primeira Liga with nine games remaining.

It also allowed great rivals Benfica to steal a march at the top of the table to set up what looked like a thrilling climax to the Portuguese domestic campaign.

After edging a 1-0 win over Maritimo, Porto then returned to pole position – only to drop two more points in the next game against relegation certainties Desportivo das Aves in a shock 0-0 draw.

For many, it looked like Porto were coming off the rails at exactly the wrong time – but with seven games, there was plenty of time to get back to the pre-lockdown form that had seen Sérgio Conceição’s side win 12 of their previous 15 matches.

Four successive victories duly followed, meaning that a win over Sporting Lisbon on Matchday 32 of 34, would seal a 29^th Primeira Liga triumph for the Dragons.

And so it came to pass. In an empty Estádio do Dragão that would have normally have been filled with 50,000 partisan home fans, second-half goals from Danilo Pereira and Moussa Marega secured a 2-0 victory for Porto and ensured second-placed Benfica could not catch their rivals.

A win and a loss in the remaining matches meant Porto finished five points clear of Benfica.

The mainstays of the campaign were former Real Madrid stalwart Pepe, plus Jesus Corona, Moussa Marega, Otavio, Francisco Soares and Alex Telles who has since joined Manchester United.

Soares top-scored with 19 goals – he, too, has since left Porto to play in China – with Marega bagging 15 and Colombian Luis Diaz scoring 14 goals.

At the other end, Argentine keeper Augustin Marchesin kept 19 clean sheet in all competitions.

Like the Premier League (and despite it being late October), the Primeira Liga has not yet really sparked into life.

Porto have played four games, winning their first two but then losing 3-2 at home to Maritimo and drawing 2-2 with Sporting Lisbon, leaving the Dragons in second place and already five points adrift of leaders Benfica.

As ever with Portugal’s top clubs, they have seen several players leave the club (Telles and Fabio Silva totalled around £60m) for sizeable fees, while bringing in a number of new signings for next to nothing.

One notable new arrival is the season-long loan of the talented winger Felipe Anderson from West Ham United.

And with 37 year-old veteran and multiple Champions League winner Pepe leading the side, Porto will no doubt be treated with the respect they deserve by Pep Guardiola’s men.

City v Porto: Head-to-Head

Tracking back the previous meetings with Porto is not difficult, as competitively, the clubs have only met twice before...

There is a third clash, which we’ll come to shortly, but we begin on 16 February 2012, with a Europa League Round of 32, first leg tie.

City’s first ever Champions League campaign had seen elimination at the group stages – though it was hard for Roberto Mancini’s men to take.

City finished with 10 points – normally more than enough to secure second spot at the very least, but despite beating Villarreal twice home and away, plus Bayern Munich at the Etihad, Napoli ended on 11 points and Bayern on 13.

Mancini knew an away goal and, if possible, a draw or victory, would put his side firmly in the box seat for the return at the Etihad.

City also had one eye on a first Premier League title and landed in Portugal as the league leaders in England.

Yaya Toure had just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations while Mario Balotelli – serving a four-game domestic ban – was also included for the game at the Estadio do Dragão

It was Porto, however, who drew first blood.

The dangerous Hulk burst down the flank before crossing in for Silvestre Varela to prod home from close range and put he hosts 1-0 up.

Balotelli should have levelled immediately but was denied by a superb save from Helton.

City again went close on 50 minutes when Micah Richards rattled the outside of the post, but just five minutes later, City were level and it came via the shoulder of Pereira as Yaya Toure attempted to pick out Balotelli.

And City snatched victory on 84 minutes through sub Sergio Aguero who turned home Yaya Toure’s cross to secure a precious 2-1 win just six minutes after coming on.

"I think that we played a good game, we played very well. In the first half we had three or four goal-scoring chances. We were really unlucky,” said Mancini.

"In the second half we played very well. We played as we know. We had seven, eight chances to score and we didn't give any chances to Porto, which is important because Porto is a top team.

"I think we won the game very well. We had more chances to score than them."

The second leg was anything but close and when Aguero scored after just 19 seconds, City led 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.

Again, Yaya Toure was the creator, collecting the ball after Porto's Nicolas Otamendi had given possession away for the visitors and his low pass into Aguero’s path was perfectly weighted for the Argentine to run on to and slot a low shot past the keeper.

Porto stayed in the game until the 75^th-minute when City finally killed off the m off with a second as Aguero slid a pass to Edin Dzeko who made no mistake.

In the time that remained, Porto had a man sent off and David Silva and David Pizarro added further goals to make it 4-0 on the night and 6-1 win on aggregate.

The only other meeting of any note was the Thomas Cook Trophy in 2007, with Porto the invited guests at what was briefly the annual curtain raiser to City’s season.

A goal from Adriano on 43 minutes proved the winner for Porto in a 1-0 victory at the Etihad.

the life of riley

Marc Riley's unique view on things

One day I hope to elevate myself to the standard of ‘just below average tennis player’. This is the dream. My goal. The thing that makes me get out of bed of a morning. Actually, it’s my wife who makes me get out of bed of a morning, but you get my drift. You become addicted to sport. In the good old days, I could quite often find myself having played five or even seven games of squash in one week. Those days are long gone. These days my fix comes in the form of tennis. Maybe 2, 3 or 4 games a week. If I don’t play it, I feel sluggish and irritable, as opposed to when I do play - when I only feel slightly sluggish and fairly irritable.

Four months ago, I pulled my calf muscle. Being a sensible adult, I left it three days to heal. Surprisingly, this wasn’t long enough and my next foray onto the court saw the injury worsen. “Right” I thought “I’m going to be a responsible adult about this,” and so left it a full seven days. The next game saw me rip the same muscle in what was thought by my physio to be a three-inch tear in my calf. Cue three months of physio and frustration.

The only good thing to come out of the whole scenario was that my physio told me I should buy some of that blue elasticated sticky tape that proper athletes wear on vulnerable parts of their body. You will have seen Vincent Kompany using the same stuff.

I bought some and learnt the knack of applying it. From then on, I felt like Hercules. Swanning around with these two bright blue strips running up my leg toward the hem of my shorts.

I never actually heard those words… though I did hear a few people saying, “Look at that twerp - wearing shorts in this weather!”

Talking of injuries… with the news about Virgil van Dijk’s setback comes the thought that losing the backbone of your team is a terrifying prospect.

As we know only too well. 

In recent years we’ve spent much of crucial seasons without our most pivotal players. Of course, all teams suffer depletion at some point or other - but I do remember thinking that we must have upset the Great God Hamstring at some point. Vinnies awful injury is probably the closest you can compare to Liverpool’s current crisis and it must be said - it is a worry. If you add other long spells of absence from Sergio and David Silva and I honestly feel we’ve had more than our fair share of bad luck in that department.

If I can offer one crumb of hope to our Merseyside rivals it is this. We are blessed to have Kevin De Bruyne in our team obviously. He is arguably our greatest ever player (or at very least will prove to be once he leaves) but somehow we managed to win the title in the best least in the world with only a handful of appearances from the serial game-changer. 

OPTIMISM COSTS NOTHING…. but then again…nor does  pessimism.

So FUTEBOL CLUBE DO PORTO then! 

A team founded in1893 by a port wine merchant called António Nicolau de Almeida. This means we have just about 13 years more experience than our imminent opponents…which gives me great confidence.

In a different time, I like to think the away leg of this clash might well have been an opportunity to take in some CL excitement and some sunshine. As it stands…it’ll be Fathers Bloomin’ Armchair YET AGAIN!!!

I’ve never been to Porto, but I have been to one Portuguese tourist resort which was rightly cited as the worst holiday destination in Europe a month after we came back. The hotel was advertised as ’10 minutes from the nearest beach. And it was! By Helicopter.  Sadly, the hotel didn't have a Helicopter. It did however have a death-trap mini-bus used to rattle - sorry - shuttle the inmates - sorry guests to and from said beach. In an effort to try and meet the advertised 10-minute deadline the driver sped down dirt tracks, back alleys and lanes at 70 mph seemingly without fear of losing his own life… our ours. 

So, thinking about it - maybe Father's Armchair isn’t such a bad place to be after all…

STRAP YOURSELVES IN …ENJOY THE MATCH….AND UP THE BLUES!