Martin Odegaard has instructed his Arsenal teammates to take their frustration from defeat to Bournemouth into their huge Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners head over to the French capital needing to overturn a one-goal deficit given to PSG by Ousmane Dembele. One potential problem for Luis Enrique is that he could miss the second leg after departing Emirates Stadium with a hamstring injury.
Mikel Arteta has also seen a fresh fitness concern emerge with Jurrien Timber absent from the squad to face Bournemouth because of a knock picked up in the first leg.
Despite the Dutchmen being absent, a very strong starting XI was selected with Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard all starting. The latter duo combined for Arsenal's opener when Rice fired past Kepa Arrizabalaga after a great ball through by the Gunners skipper.
However, goals from Dean Huijsen and Evanilson turned the game on its head with Bournemouth doing the league double over Arsenal after winning the reverse fixture 2-0.
Following the defeat, Odegaard issued an honest verdict on his side's display. “We’re very disappointed,” he told Arsenal's official channels. “We wanted to come here today and have a really good game, get a win - for our position in the league and also to create the momentum into next week.
“The second half was very far from good enough from us. It’s not acceptable to concede two goals like that. It’s something we have to talk about and make sure we improve.
“We’re disappointed now, but we have to move on and be strong and stick together and prepare for a massive game.”
Attention now shifts onto the European knockout against PSG with Odegaard knowing that a big performance is needed in Paris.
“It’s a massive game," he said. "That’s the good thing, when you’re disappointed now and you’re angry and frustrated, you can use all those emotions into Wednesday. We know what we’re playing for, it’s a massive game, we have to stick together and create energy and be ready.”
Odegaard has faced big criticism this season for his lack of direct goal contributions and reluctance to shoot in good positions while also slowing down fast attacks. However, that will all be completely forgotten if he can play a big role in getting Arsenal to the Champions League final in Munich.
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