Arsenal captain Odegaard: The Real Reason why we lost to Sporting CP

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard urged calm after their Europa League round 16 elimination by Sporting Lisbon.

The Gunners drew 1-1 on the night, but with the aggregate score locked at 3-3, a penalty shootout saw them eliminated.

Odegaard said, “I think we did enough in some periods of the game but most of the game we weren’t on the level we should be. We didn’t play our best football. It was a tight game in the end, it could have gone both ways.

“They are a good team, we knew that, we were prepared. It was more about us today, we didn’t play the way we normally do with the same energy we normally do. Now we have to look forward.

“We have to remember it’s been a great season, it’s a big blow to go out of this competition. But now we look forward to the league, that’s all we can do now.

“We win and lose together. It doesn’t matter. When we’re winning everyone is happy, when we lose we have to pick up the spirit. We win and lose together.”