Porto defender Pepe felt that his teammates did a great job of nullifying Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard on Tuesday night.
Porto headed to the Emirates Stadium with a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals up for grabs.
Despite leading 1-0 from the first leg, few were really giving Porto much of a chance against Arsenal.
Porto were impressive though, restricting Arsenal brilliantly whilst offering a threat going the other way.
Leandro Trossard fired Arsenal ahead on the night but the Gunners just couldn’t find the crucial second to send them through.
The game went all the way to penalties and Brazilian duo Wendell and Galeno were unable to find the net, sending Arsenal through.
Pepe on Martin Odegaard
One of the big performances on the night came from Porto defender Pepe.
Pepe has been a mainstay in Champions League action over the years and we could hardly blame Arsenal fans for thinking he was finished.
Pepe is now 41 and still going, this time in his second spell as a Porto player.
The former Real Madrid star was outstanding on Tuesday night, turning in a dominant display in the heart of the Porto defence.
Pepe being so impressive in his 40’s was pretty remarkable, and he was delighted with how Porto dealt with Martin Odegaard.
The Norwegian crossed paths with Pepe at Real Madrid and the Porto defender has now reacted to his display.
Pepe has told Record that he felt Porto were able to ‘neutralise’ Odegaard and limit Arsenal’s creative play.
Ultimately, Porto couldn’t find the goal and came up short on penalties, but Pepe loved how his teammates dealt with Odegaard.
“Both teams worked hard, we neutralised Arsenal’s game a lot, we can’t forget that they are a great team and that they score a lot of goals in the Premier League,” said Pepe. “We came here to play our game, we neutralised Odegaard’s game between the lines. The team had a very mature attitude on the field, knowing what they were doing, but unfortunately we couldn’t score. The game went to extra time and then on penalties they had that extra point,” he added.
Pepe may be happy but Odegaard did still have a big say on the game by producing a superb assist for Trossard’s goal.
Odegaard only had 57 touches of the ball though, the fewest of Arsenal’s midfielders, and was dispossessed four times as well as losing the ball four more times with poor touches.
Odegaard still had that magic in his locker but Pepe and Porto certainly tried to shut him down as Sergio Conceicao attempted to stifle Arsenal’s play.
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