Arsenal face a huge test in FC Porto tonight as they aim to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2010.
Despite winning eight Premier League games in a row, Arsenal fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Porto, with Wanderson Galeno scoring a stunning injury-time winner.
Mikel Arteta’s side endured a tough game as their European inexperience showed, and they failed to register a single shot on target.
They since recovered well to continue their strong domestic form, and are now top of the Premier League, but tonight’s match is a hugely significant one.
Captain Martin Odegaard has now highlighted what went wrong for Arsenal in Porto, and explained the different challenges provided by the Champions League.
Martin Odegaard explains Porto threat ahead of Arsenal clash
In his captain’s programme notes, Odegaard called for his teammates to show more intensity on the ball than they did in Portugal.
“We are on a great run in the league – eight wins in a row – which is why it is difficult to explain why our performance away to Porto in the first leg was so different to what we have been doing in the league lately,” he claimed.
“The main difference was our intention when we had the ball. We didn’t threaten enough, we didn’t play forward enough. We were trying to play around them rather than through them.
“That’s one of the things we’ve done so well lately in the Premier League, playing the ball between the lines, and getting our players in dangerous positions. We’ve been really good in our movement, working for each other to open the spaces, but we weren’t able to do that in Porto.”
Champions League provides a stern test for Arsenal
Facing Porto in the Champions League represents a different test than most Premier League sides have offered Arsenal in recent weeks.
Saturday’s victory over Brentford was one in which Arsenal had to dig deep to beat a side that set out to make life difficult, and will likely face similar issues tonight.
Odegaard also pointed out that the Champions League requires Arsenal to be able to play smarter when it comes to facing difficult sides.
“To be fair they did well to stop us too. They took the speed out of the game and made it tough for us to play, but that’s something you have to deal with, especially in European football,” he added.
“We have to be able to win in any context, that’s something we’ve spoken about before, and it’s something we’ll have to improve if we want to go all the way in Europe.”
Should Arsenal win, they will reach a first quarter-final since 2010, but it will not be an easy task, and Arteta may be tempted to bring in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, as Champions League-experienced stars who were missed in the first leg.
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