[Gossip Board] Odegaard: VAR In The Champions League Is Completely Different From The Premier League; We Have The Confidence To Make History

Hupu reported on May 05 that before the second leg of Arsenal's Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid at home was about to start, Gunners captain Martin Odegaard expressed his feelings to the fans with the help of the captain's notes in the game day journal. He said that the whole team was extremely excited about this game. When recalling the first round, he expressed that he was conflicted about the penalty kick, but he also had to adapt to the rules of the European war. He also emphasized that the team hopes to end the club's 20-year wait for the Champions League final and take a historic step in front of the home fans.

We know exactly why we are fighting tonight and everyone is so excited about the opportunity to do something extraordinary for this club. This is the most wonderful part of the season and there is no bigger stage than playing at home in the Champions League semi-finals. Let's enjoy it, get ready and give it our all. As players, we spend our whole lives looking forward to these moments. When an opportunity like this comes, you have to do your best. We know that this club has not reached the final in 20 years, so let's give it our all.

After the first round away game, we felt quite mixed. The reason why we say this is because we could have won that game. We went to Madrid with the goal of winning, especially after thinking deeply about the penalty call near the end of the game, I felt that we definitely had a good chance to win successfully. We have been competing fiercely in the Champions League for several consecutive seasons. We have a clear understanding of how VAR operates in these games, and we have already become completely accustomed to it. In other words, if you are in the main position of a player, this is a situation that you have to deal with appropriately. But one thing is very certain, there is a huge difference between this and the Premier League, especially in terms of handball-related rules. You have to adapt, the action that gave us a penalty in the first leg would never be a penalty in the Premier League. Whether we like it or not, these are the rules of European competition and we can only deal with it in the best way possible. We have always been eager to win, but we can still accept a draw in the Champions League away from home, especially when facing a strong opponent like Atletico Madrid with a superb home record, and then take the task back to home to complete it. Now everything is in our own hands.

The atmosphere in Madrid away from home was deafening, it's a great stadium and we handled it well. They are extremely powerful opponents and everyone in the stadium is full of fighting spirit. For us, we can take a lot of positive elements from last week's performance. Of course, there is also one aspect where it is absolutely obvious that we can definitely get better and do better. We have already done some research before tonight's round. We clearly know exactly where we can improve, and then we focus on measuring whether we can deliver the required level. The advantage of playing a two-leg semi-final is that you already know your opponent very, very, very well. This is the third time we have played against Atletico Madrid this season. Even though we have defeated them in the league stage, we do not need to spend too much time to deeply analyze our opponents and understand their usual strategies. We can focus more on ourselves, play the game we expect to achieve, and correct the poor performance in the previous game.

We have absolute belief in everything we are doing. The energy within the team is fantastic. We have worked hard throughout the entire season to get ourselves to where we are now. Now we are about to start making history. I have been back at Arsenal for a while and have witnessed the continuous improvement of the team every year. Step by step, these steps have led us to where we are today. It is amazing to be a part of it and grow and develop with it. Now we need to take a step forward again to implement and do something truly great. This is the most ambitious goal, the most huge dream, and it is also the direction we are working hard for every day.

I feel like as a team, we are stronger than ever. We have learned experience and lessons from all the previous experiences last season, and now we are more fully prepared to face such a moment. The next round tonight at the Emirates Stadium makes it all the more special, let's make it happen together!