Martin Odegaard has reflected on his recent injury frustration in programme notes published by Arsenal, while also highlighting David Raya’s wider influence before the Sporting CP second leg.
Martin Odegaard has revealed he missed Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth after feeling his knee during last week’s Champions League win over Sporting CP, with the captain admitting the setback came at a difficult moment in the season. Writing in Arsenal’s matchday programme before the second leg, shared on Arsenal's website Odegaard said: “I had to go off during the second half of that game in Portugal last week, feeling my knee, which is why I missed the game at the weekend. I caught it a little bit against Sporting, but hopefully it shouldn’t be too bad.” Arsenal published the comments ahead of Wednesday’s return leg at the Emirates.
The latest comments continue a theme from Odegaard’s recent programme notes, in which he has repeatedly addressed the physical setbacks he has had to manage. In notes published by Arsenal before the Everton game in March, he admitted: “It’s been difficult for me with the knee injury lately, but I’m working as hard as I can to get back to full fitness now.” That offered a clearer picture of where he was physically at that stage of the season, with the captain trying to rebuild rhythm while Arsenal remained in the middle of two major competitions.
The programme notes before Sporting also show Odegaard trying to place that frustration in the wider context of Arsenal’s season. Reflecting on the 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth, he wrote: “Saturday’s result here against Bournemouth was massively disappointing for everyone, so it’s good that this game has come around so quickly to give us the opportunity to respond. In football, you quickly get the chance to put things right, and now we want to do it.”
That led to the clearest theme of his message. “You have to go through difficult moments in every season, so the important thing is to use that pain in a positive way to move on to the next one,” Odegaard wrote. “That’s what we want to do tonight, back in the Champions League.” He added: “We have worked so hard all season, and we are determined to make the most of this position we are in. We have the opportunity to make history by reaching back-to-back Champions League semi-finals for the first time in our history, so let’s make it happen.”
Odegaard also reflected on the first leg in Lisbon, where Kai Havertz’s late goal gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead in the tie. He described it as “a good win” in a stadium where “it’s always tough to play away in Europe”, and said the result was “brilliant and exactly what we wanted”. At the same time, he offered a measured assessment of the performance, writing: “It was a strong performance from us over there, and I thought we defended really well. We could have created a bit more going forward, but we got the goal in the end and the result we wanted.”
Odegaard also had his say on keeper, David Raya, calling the Arsenal Number 1 “up there with the very best in the world” and said he has been “so important for us”. He also underlined Raya’s standing inside the dressing room, describing him as “a leader” who “talks a lot and takes a lot of responsibility for the team”. Odegaard added that while supporters see Raya’s quality on the pitch, “off the pitch, he brings a lot to the team and to the group” and is “a really big part of the group and a really strong leader”.
Taken together, the comments read as both an injury update and a statement of intent. Odegaard has confirmed the knee issue that ruled him out at the weekend, but the wider message in Arsenal’s programme is about response. The setback against Bournemouth hurt, yet the captain’s focus, as published by the club, is firmly on what Arsenal can still achieve in the days ahead.