Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard came off the bench in extra time for the Gunners’ loss to Sporting Lisbon, and admitted that exit may cost them their Premier League title.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard admitted the Gunners were not playing with their normal energy as they were knocked out of European competition at the hands of Sporting Lisbon.
Mikel Arteta’s men hosted the Portuguese giants in the second leg of their Europa League last 16 tie. Midfielder Granit Xhaka put Arsenal in front, but Pedro Goncalves equalized for the visitors just after the hour, with a brilliant chip over Aaron Ramsdale.
Neither side was able to find a way out before the end of the 90 minutes, sending the game to extra time and finally to penalties. Gabriel Martinelli missed the Gunners’ fourth penalty, with Nuno Santos coming on to send Sporting through.
Odegaard came off the bench during extra time, but Arsenal’s five regular starters played the 120 minutes. First-choice right-back Ben White was also forced to play all but the first nine minutes after Takehiro Tomiyasu was hit by an injury early on.
Thomas Partey and Bukayo Saka also came off the bench before the 70th minute, with Arteta’s side finishing with nine of their first-choice starters. And what’s concerning, Odegaard admitted his team didn’t bring the same energy to the game as usual.
“I think we did quite a bit in some periods of play but for the most part our game was not at the level it should be. We didn’t play our best football. It was a tight game in the end, it could have gone both ways,” said the midfielder to BT Sport.
“They are a good team, we know that, we are ready. It was more about us today, we didn’t play as usual with the same energy as usual. Now we have to look ahead.
“We have to remember it’s been a great season, it’s a big blow to be out of this competition. But now we’re looking forward to the league, that’s all we can do now.
“We win and lose together. It doesn’t matter. When we win everyone is happy, when we lose we have to cheer up. We win and lose together.”
With the Gunners now out of all cup competitions, Odegaard has urged his team to focus fully on the Premier League title. And he’s urging them to get past the pain barrier for Sunday’s trip to the Crystal Palace.
“We have 11 finals to go and that’s it, that’s the main focus now. It’s started now in the locker room to recover well and change focus, so that’s what we have to do,” added the Arsenal captain.
“I think some of the players are tired. Those who played the whole game of course, but we will recover well and make sure we are sharp for Sunday, that’s the only thing we can do now.
“We wanted to do something special in this tournament and we are disappointed. It’s done now, we can’t think about it too much, we have to move forward.”