Martin Odegaard insists Arsenal can lift their season by getting back on track in the title race.
Odegaard admitted the disappointment was overwhelming after their Champions League exit to Bayern Munich but they have to use that pain as a driving force. The Gunners skipper says it will be difficult to pick themselves up and see positives but he says now is a real test of their character if they want to do “something very special” this season.
They surrendered top spot in the Premier League with defeat to Aston Villa last Sunday and now have to respond at Wolves on Saturday night which comes just 72 hours after their European heartbreak. Odegaard said: “Yeah, that is what we have to do. That is the only thing you can do. Every time you get hit you have to stand up and go again.
“The key thing is to stand together and lift each other up. Then, as I said, we have something really nice to play for, so that’s where we have to put the mindset now.
“I mean every game now is so important, it has been for a while. It has been so tight and so competitive. Every game is really important.
“It takes a little bit to get going again, but I think what you play for in the league is enough motivation for all of us. So we just have to stick together, get back up, and keep pushing.
“We can still do something very special. I think that is enough motivation to just keep going, keep working hard and pushing each other. We have to keep going.
“All of us are in this together. We win and lose together. I think we all have an important role now to help each other and lift each other up. We have something really nice to play for, so we have to move on and look at that.
“Of course we want to win something and that’s been the big goal. But I think we can’t look too far ahead, we have to take it day by day, and game by game. First of all, now we have to lift each other up and we have to get ready for the next game. Then we move on from there.”
It was Arsenal ’s first Champions League quarter final since 2010 and there were clear regrets, largely stemming from not building on their lead against Bayern in the first leg. But it was also their first campaign back on European football’s biggest stage in seven seasons and Odegaard says they must learn lessons to improve for next season and beyond.
Odegaard admitted they were not clinical enough in front of goal and that is where ultimately they failed against Bayern.
He added: “I think you see it in front of the goals, that’s where we lost the tie. It was a bit similar to the home game, we gave away a very easy goal today and we are not sharp enough in front of the opponent’s goal. That’s where the games are decided and that’s where we lost the game.
“I mean we wanted to do more, so at the moment we are just disappointed. It has been a long time since we have been here, but at the moment it is disappointing. We wanted to go further. We wanted to go all the way.
“First of all, we are disappointed, but I think we have done something good as well. But yeah, it is hard to look at that now.
“So we are disappointed now, but we have to stick together. We have to keep pushing - and hopefully we can do something special.
“It is obviously a bit hard to look at it in that way at the moment, but, of course, as you said, everything that has happened to us we have used in a good way and we have come back stronger every time.
“So, that’s what we have to do again. We have to use it in a positive way. But at the moment it is disappointing, so it’s hard to say.”