Odegaard assures Arsenal have “full belief” they can win the Champions League | OneFootball

Martin Odegaard emphasised Arsenal’s intention is to “to be us” in their bid to claim a maiden Champions League title when they face holders Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s final.

Many have predicted the French champions will retain their crown at the Puskas Arena, yet the Norwegian international remained confident the Gunners can secure the win for a historic double in Budapest.

Speaking to the media on Friday, the Norwegian insisted Arsenal possess the quality to overcome Luis Enrique’s side.

“We know the quality we have in the team. I think we’ve shown that for a long period of time,” said the Gunners’ skipper.

“It’s something special that we can achieve that’s not been done before. It was 22 years since we last won the Premier League and we did it – [now] we want to make even more history.”

“Obviously we’re playing a good team with a lot of qualities but we have full belief in ourselves; what we can do, the football we can play and the results that we can get. That’s our main focus, to be us and to focus on what we can control.”

Odegaard became the first Arsenal captain to lift the Premier League trophy in 22 years at Selhurst Park last weekend but says winning the title “doesn’t change a lot” for the squad.

“It felt amazing. All we’ve been through to get to that moment makes it feel so good and to do it with this group is just unbelievable.

“I’ve been dreaming about winning these trophies since I grew up playing football. When you get the taste of winning and lifting a trophy you know how nice it feels and obviously we want to do it again.”

He continued: “It was something really special and something we were fighting [to achieve] for so long. [But] the mindset is still the same and we want to come here and win.”

Hale End graduate Bukayo Saka knows exactly what it would mean for the club should they secure a historic victory in Hungary and he feels the togetherness of the group could make the difference.

“We have enough fire going into the game tomorrow,” Saka remarked. “We know the history of the club and we know that tomorrow we can write history as players, winning it for the first time, so that’s already a lot of motivation.

“We’re a very tight-knitted team, we get on with each other very well and we’re willing to fight for each other on and off the pitch – that goes a long way. It helped us win the Premier League and hopefully it’ll give us an advantage tomorrow.”

Arsenal have been flawless along their route to the final this campaign, topping the league phase with a perfect winning record before dispatching Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon and Atletico Madrid in the knockout stages.

PSG have grown into this season’s competition. Enrique’s side had to come through a playoff round after finishing 11th in the league phase but they’ve since seen off Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Mikel Arteta’s side take on PSG at the Puskas Arena in Budapest at 17:00 (BST) on Saturday 30th of May, with live coverage available on TNT Sports via the streaming service HBO Max.

It is set to be the first ever Champions League final to not be available on free-to-watch television, unless UEFA acts as recommended in an open letter by UK Prime Minister SIr Keir Starmer and reverses its decision at the last minute.