Arsenal’s night of misery against Liverpool took another late twist as Martin Odegaard was spotted in lengthy conversation with Jurgen Klopp.
The Real Madrid loanee was left fuming at the full-time whistle as the Gunners’ hopes of a top-six finish took yet another blow with a 3-0 home defeat.
It took until the second half for the champions to open the scoring, but by the time Diogo Jota netted the first, their dominance had been clear to see.
Liverpool controlled possession and had nearly all of the chances, on a truly humbling night for Mikel Arteta’s men.
After the full-time whistle, Odegaard was seen talking and hugging with Reds boss Klopp, in a clip that has understandably since gone viral across social media.
Arsenal are holding out hope of signing the Real midfielder beyond the end of this season, although that appears unlikely if they are unable to secure European football.
Their most obvious route of now doing that is to win the Europa League, which would earn them a place in next season’s Champions League.
Klopp’s men meanwhile, have turned their campaign around in a matter of weeks, picking up their third win on the spin either side of the international break.
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
They now face Odegaard’s parent club in the Champions League in midweek, looking to continue their mini-resurgence.
Speaking after the game, Arteta admitted he was “in shock” at the desperate performance from his players after a positive build-up to the game at the Emirates.
“At the moment I am in shock. I didn’t expect that, the way the team trained, but it happened today, it is the reality.
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“It is a challenge and a challenge brings an opportunity, and in football you have an opportunity a few days later, and if you have courage and you have big balls and you represent a club like this, you have to stand up in the next game and take it.
He added: “It is my fault. I have to set the team to play in a different way. Congratulations to Liverpool, who were exceptional today, they can play at that level.
“The margin is incredibly high. The standard has to be much higher for this football club. We could not put three passes together. Too many simple things were not done right and when you do that against this opponent you get punished.”
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