Martin Odegaard believes Arsenal are better equipped to handle Porto’s gamesmanship as they bid to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 14 years.
The Gunners lost the first leg of the last-16 tie in Portugal three weeks ago 1-0 as Arsenal failed to register a shot on target in a match for the first time in more than two years.
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Mikel Arteta’s side struggled to find their rhythm as Porto broke the game up: there were 36 fouls in the match, a season-high in the Champions League, while the ball was in play for just 51.7 percent of the game, well down on the typical average.
Arsenal overcame similar tactics to beat Brentford on Saturday and Odegaard insisted that the “time-wasting” that occurred in that 2-1 win was ideal preparation for another tricky encounter on Tuesday night.
“There are so many different things going on in each game,” said Odegaard. “This game [against Porto] was one where the ball was out of play a lot and a lot of stop and start and restarts and all this.
“I think you saw that also against Brentford and I think we dealt with it in a brilliant way. I think that was a good practice.
“We already showed in that game what we learned in Porto, hopefully we can do that even better tomorrow. First of all, we want to play our game. We don’t want to focus too much on them and what they are doing. We want to play our game and that’s the main thing.
“We had to deal with a lot of different situations, a lot of time-wasting. We had to control our emotions the whole game and I think we did that brilliantly.”
Arteta also urged his players to handle the occasion in what is likely to be a raucous atmosphere given Arsenal last reached the Champions League quarterfinals in 2010.
“We need that noise, we need them playing every ball with us and we need that emotional control as well to understand that the game will go through certain phases and we have to be really intelligent to get what we want,” said Arteta. “It’s a beautiful opportunity to live one of those nights. It’s been 14 years, so everything that we put in there is going to be worth it.
“The game context is very important. We know that we have a long match to play. There are moments that could go your way and that it can change dramatically quick. That’s the Champions League and you have to be ready for these kind of games.”
Gabriel Martinelli was not pictured training with the group earlier on Monday, but Arteta refused to rule out the Brazil winger as he bids to overcome a cut to his right foot.
The game comes on the heels of a good weekend for Arsenal, who are now top of the Premier League on goal difference after the win over Brentford combined with a 1-1 draw between fellow title-chasers Liverpool and Manchester City.
Arsenal play Pep Guardiola’s City at The Etihad Stadium on March 31.
