Odegaard on his fitness and UCL excitement

Before every game at Emirates Stadium, Martin Odegaard lifts the lid on the mood in the camp via his captain’s notes published in the matchday programme. Ahead of tonight’s Champions League match against Olympiacos, the skipper discusses the win at Newcastle United, his shoulder injury, and how to handle the new Champions League format. Here is a snippet: It was a really satisfying and deserved victory for us at Newcastle United on Sunday. Mentally, we faced a proper challenge, especially after the VAR review early on. Then they scored with their first chance, and we had to dig deep. So yes, it was tough, and I feel like we’ve taken another step, we’ve improved and we’ve learned from previous games and years. Also, looking at the squad now, in every game we have players coming off the bench and making an impact. I feel like we’re just stronger overall. From a personal point of view, it felt so good to be back. I feel like I haven’t played too much this season, so I was really keen to get back – especially in this game.It’s a bit of a different situation, because this is not like an injury where you’re not fit and then you are fit, but the shoulder feels good now. It’s been two weeks and I feel a lot stronger. The pain is fine now, it’s been more about getting that strength back and I really feel like I’m back there now. So hopefully I can get back into the rhythm and get some more minutes in games consistently.On Sunday I was sitting on the side, keen to get on as we were losing. We got the first goal quite early after I came on, then the last one in the last minute, so it felt really good to be able to contribute like that to the result. Tonight is about the Champions League again. I feel like we need to take that confidence from last season and how we played in the competition. We had a really good run in the Champions League and really got the taste of it. Being so close to the final makes us so determined, and we all know what we want and that’s to win it.It’s amazing to be back in this competition at the Emirates again, to use the energy you all give us because every game is so important. I love these nights in the Champions League, they are beautiful games to play. I’m sure everyone is really excited for it.We have had one season already with this format, and the way it’s set up now, it doesn’t feel like a group game. It’s more that every single game is important in the league, and we have the same mentality for every match, which is to try and win it. Read the rest of Martin’s notes, as well as a host of other fantastic content, by buying the Arsenal v Olympiacos programme either around the stadium or online, or subscribe to get every edition delivered to your door. Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.