“How can you not enjoy it?” Arsenal captain, Odegaard speaks on pressure of chasing after trophy
The Arsenal captain sounded almost offended when asked whether the team could embrace the pressure of chasing trophies ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid. “How can you not enjoy it?” said Martin Odegaard.
“We’re playing in probably the toughest and most competitive league in the world and we’re at the top fighting for the title,” he continued. “We’re in the semi-final in the Champions League.
“For me, it’s hard to understand how you can’t enjoy that.”
To be fair, Arsenal haven’t recently looked like a side relishing the moment. Their hard-fought 1–0 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday was just their second win in seven matches. Still, both the captain and manager arrived in Madrid full of confidence.
“This is the stage that we want to be on and we have earned it through incredible work, passion and quality in the last nine months,” said Mikel Arteta.
“Now is the moment to make a statement and show how good we are, how much we want it and make it happen. The opportunity is in front of us and we have to attack it.”
Arsenal’s title race in the Premier League with Manchester City—and the tension that comes with it—has largely defined their campaign as they try to end a 22-year wait for the trophy.
Yet an even bigger milestone is within reach in Europe. Arsenal are just two matches away from only their second Champions League final, having never lifted the trophy before. They’ve also reached consecutive semi-finals for the first time.
“I don’t take it for granted,” added Arteta. “Because a very short time ago, this club had seven years without the Champions League.
“So, in those very short periods of time, what we have achieved is remarkable. And we know the difficulty of it.
“It’s a massive privilege to be here again, two years in a row, in the semi-finals of the Champions League, representing our club.
“What an opportunity. We are going to grab it with both hands. You are going to see a team that wants to be dominant, that wants to win it, and wants to start and decide the tie tomorrow [Wednesday].”
Over the past two years, the competition has given Arsenal memorable moments—most notably last season’s commanding win over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. However, both Arteta and his squad are intent on pushing further this time.
Odegaard acknowledged that past disappointments still linger as they chase major honours.
“That is always going to be there until we win it [a trophy]. That’s something we have to live with. We have to take all the experiences and the lessons. That’s part of football and part of the journey.
“It’s the best part of the season. Everyone is up for it. Everyone is excited. It’s another great opportunity for us do do something special. We have to take all the lessons from the past and take them into this.
“We’re going to do that.”
In the latter half of the season, Arsenal have struggled in attack, scoring only five goals across their last seven matches. But Diego Simeone’s team experienced their attacking strength firsthand in their previous meeting, when Arsenal secured a 4–0 win earlier in the campaign.
Arteta insisted that Wednesday’s clash at Metropolitano Stadium would be approached with the same attacking mindset, dismissing any idea of a defensive strategy.
“It’s going to be a really tough match. They are a team and manager that have so much experience in the competition. They have every right to be here because of what they’ve done. Again, it’s remarkable.
“We know the difficulty of the match but we have shown in Europe, in any ground, what we are capable of.
“We have to play with that confidence, with that desire and that will to come here to win the game.”
They will again need to block out external criticism following their recent dip in form. Odegaard admitted that avoiding it completely is nearly impossible but stressed the importance of focus.
“For some people, maybe stay away from the phone,” he said. “But in today’s society it’s impossible to not see things.
“It’s about being strong mentally and being focused on the right things, to live day by day and game by game. It doesn’t matter what the people say. We can’t control that. We can work every single day as hard as we can. Just keep doing that.
“It’s massive for all of us. We’re in a great position to make history and that’s what we want to do.
“I’ve been at this club for a while now and I’ve seen the progression. It’s been amazing to be a part of that. We want to take that last step and do something really big and that’s what we’re all working towards every single day.”
Even concerns about possible storms on Wednesday didn’t shake their confidence.
“We adapt to any context,” said Arteta. “For the last nine months, imagine the amount of games we have played.
“We have played in different scenarios, different contexts, with different opponents. So we adapt to the conditions tomorrow in the best possible way to be ourselves and win the game.”
