Martin Odegaard sends stirring message to Arsenal stars seven games from history

Martin Odegaard says Arsenal are ready to take seven steps to making “history.” Odegaard insisted they are ready to embrace the pressure of being four wins away from winning the title and three from lifting their first-ever Champions League trophy. Arsenal face Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi final in the Metropolitano Stadium against Diego Simeone’s battled hardened European campaigners. But Odegaard came out fighting and full of confidence with a real uplifting captain’s message ahead of their European showdown. Gunners midfielder Odegaard said: “It's massive for all of us. As I said we're in a great position to make history and that's what we want to do. “I've been in this club for a while now and I've seen the progression since I first came and how much we've improved and the steps we've taken. FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook page "It's been amazing to be a part of that and I probably want to take that last step and do something really big. That's the biggest goal, the biggest dream and that's what we're working towards every single day.” Arsenal have had to live with the accusations of being bottlers while the Emirates has been wracked by nerves at times this season. But Odegaard insisted the players are not intimidated - and are ready to enjoy the opportunity that lies in front of them. He said: “How can you not enjoy it? I think we're playing in probably the toughest and most competitive league in the world and we're at the top, fighting for the title, winning and playing in the semi-final and the Champions League. “I mean, for me it's hard to understand how you can not enjoy that. That's what we've been dreaming about our whole life, you know, since I was a kid. “These are the moments we've been dreaming about, you know, so for me that's quite easy and, as I said before, it's the best part of the season and everyone is ready for it, everyone is up for it. The energy in the group is amazing and, yeah, we're ready for it. “I mean it's the best part of the season. so yeah, everyone's up for it, everyone's excited. We know what we've played for and tomorrow is another great opportunity for us to do something special and we know what's there and we just have to enjoy it and be ready for it. "As you said, take all the lessons you know from the past and bring it into this end of the season and I'm sure we're going to do that. Looking forward to it.” Odegaard also knows that the pressure is on to deliver a trophy. They were on course for four last month and now they have got two to play for. It would be a huge blow to lose them all and Odegaard acknowledged that pressure and spotlight will remain on them until they deliver another trophy. He added: “I mean, it's always going to be there until we win it and that's something you have to live with. As I said before, we need to take all those experiences and the lessons and use it in a good way. “I think that's a part of football, it's a part of the journey and we have to live in the moment. At the moment, we're doing really well in an amazing position in the league and in the Champions League. “That’s what we have to focus on, to just look at it every single day, every single game, how we can be at our best and then we'll see what happens. We're in a great spot and we're up for it. “We want to win every single game we play and every trophy we fight for. We want to win it. That's the mindset. We always want to win when we play. “Of course we want to do something more than last year. Last year was our biggest semi-final. We want to go further this year and show that we've improved and that we've learned from it. That's the mindset.” Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.