NEWS. . . BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Pepe has revealed that Porto have to ‘neutralise’ Martin Odegaard in Tuesday’s Champions League match against Arsenal.
Porto sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg, Leandro Trossard’s first-half goal at the Emirates Stadium giving the Gunners an aggregate point in the second leg.
The two teams may not be separated after 120 minutes and it took penalty shootouts, with David Raya saving two Porto consequences to help secure Arsenal’s position in the Champions League quarter-final draw on Friday.
Odegaard, meanwhile, helped Trossard’s goal a lot and Pepe, who put in an impressive performance through the centre of Porto’s defence in the Emirates, admits his team would silence the Arsenal captain.
“First of all, I have to thank the fans for what they did on this amazing night. Secondly, it’s a shame to be eliminated like that, but that’s part of football,” Pepe told DAZN after Porto’s elimination from the Champions League.
“We were a team that made it very difficult for Arsenal, starting with the home game. Today they scored on the first shot. I have to congratulate my teammates because they did what the coach asked them to do. But there were times when we might have explained and scored the goal better. We played a wonderful match but, unfortunately, we couldn’t get through the round.
“We don’t know that Arsenal are a wonderful team, in the Premier League they score a lot of goals. We came here to play our game, neutralizing Odegaard’s play between the lines. We knew what we were doing, but unfortunately we couldn’t score. “. They were a little lucky.
Asked how Porto could have avoided the penalty shootout, Pepe replied: “It’s about settling the game before penalties, that’s what we try to do.
“If we had more definition in attack, we would even create chances. Unfortunately, we also feel the weariness of a difficult time.
“We were hooked on the game and I have to congratulate my teammates and the fans. We want to lift our heads, move forward, and receive informed lessons.
When asked how he can continue to take care of the intensity of the game 120 minutes at the age of 41, Pepe replied: “I’m passionate about football, I’m privileged, I do what I like and I dedicate myself a lot to it. “this work. I go out to take care of myself.
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