Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has warned his teammates they cannot afford to carry an inferiority complex heading into Friday’s Champions League draw.
An agonising 14-year wait to reach the quarter finals of Europe’s elite club competition came to an end last night in dramatic fashion as the Gunners beat Porto 4-2 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw on aggregate.
Leandro Trossard, courtesy of Odegaard’s delicious assist, put the home side back on terms in the tie shortly before half-time, but thereafter Arsenal struggled to put their obdurate opponents to the sword.
And so it was left to goalkeeper David Raya to produce the heroics with two saves that booked Arsenal’s place in the last eight where they could draw the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester City.
Despite having made hard work of their last 16 tie, however, Odegaard insists Arsenal cannot afford to live in fear of facing a traditional European heavyweight in the next round.
‘To be honest, we can’t think like that,’ he replied when asked if there was anyone he wanted to avoid in Friday’s draw. ‘It’s the biggest tournament in the world and, no matter what team we get, it’s going to be a good team. We will just take what we get and we will try to win.
‘That’s where we want to be. We want to be on the biggest stage. We want to play the biggest games and fight for the biggest trophies. When I came here I believed in the project, in the club, what they were doing, everything around the club, I believed in it – and now we are here doing well.
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‘We just have to keep pushing each other and make sure we get a little bit better every day. We will see where it takes us.’
Those improvements could also yet take Arsenal to a first Premier League crown in two decades, having fallen agonisingly short last year. After leading the way for 248 days of the campaign, they were pipped at the post by Treble-winning City.
However, a 2-1 victory over Brentford on Saturday followed by a draw between City and Liverpool means Arsenal will be top heading into the international break.
They travel to the Etihad Stadium on March 31 and Odegaard wants the win over Porto to act as fuel for their title drive.
‘I think it is a massive boost for everyone,’ the Norway international added. ‘The way we did it also, it maybe wasn’t the best game, but you just saw everyone pushing so hard, digging so deep.
‘I think you saw the mentality in the team when we stepped up for the penalties. I am really proud of everyone.
‘We have to use this in a good way. I think we have to use this, we have to grow off this. It is a massive night for everyone. We are still a young squad, but this was another big experience for everyone.
‘We have to keep building on that and use it in a good way going into the end of the season. It should be a massive boost for everyone. Every time we play, we want to win. We want to fight for all the trophies we can.’
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