Arsenal were beaten on penalties in Budapest after drawing 1-1 with the holders, but Odegaard said the squad should still be proud of an “incredible season”.
Martin Odegaard says Arsenal must use the pain of their Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain as motivation after their attempt to complete a historic double ended on penalties in Budapest.
Arsenal’s season finished in the cruellest possible way, with the newly crowned Premier League champions beaten in a shootout after drawing 1-1 with the holders over 120 minutes.
Kai Havertz had given Arsenal an early lead after only six minutes, and Mikel Arteta’s side were still in front at half-time, but Ousmane Dembele converted from the spot on 65 minutes to force extra time after they were awarded a soft penalty, something not afforded Arsenal later when Noni Madueke was taken down in the box.
There was almost one final twist when Viktor Gyokeres went close to winning it with 10 seconds remaining, but the final was eventually decided from the spot. With PSG leading 4-3 in the shootout, the decisive kick fell to Gabriel, who could not convert, allowing the Oil state side to retain the trophy and leaving Arsenal as European runners-up for the second time in their history.
For Odegaard, the immediate feeling was obvious, but the captain insisted Arsenal cannot allow one defeat to obscure the scale of what they have achieved. The club ended a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, went unbeaten through 14 Champions League matches before the final, and came within one shootout of winning the competition for the first time against the side widely hailed as the best in the world.
“It’s painful at the moment, but when you look at the bigger picture, we’ve had an incredible season,” he said. “We won the league for the first time in 22 years, and of course, being this close today as well.
“We need to take our time in order to get over this loss. The season’s been amazing in a lot of different ways, we just couldn’t quite do the double, but we have to be proud of our performance.
“We’ve done some incredible things and we had a great run in the Champions League as well. We just have to use the feeling that we have now and also the positive feelings we have from this season to reflect on all of it, and make sure we come back even stronger in the next season. There are lots of good things to take and some things for sure in Europe as well.”
The squad will return to north London on Sunday, where up to a million supporters are expected to line the streets of Islington to mark a season that brought the league title back to Arsenal.
The Premier League trophy will be displayed from the bus, and Odegaard believes the players and supporters should still take that moment seriously.
“We have to celebrate the title with our supporters – they deserve that,” he added. “I think we deserve that. We’ve done something incredible together and of course, it would have been even better with the double.
“But still, it’s an incredible achievement and we’re looking forward to seeing all our supporters tomorrow.”
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