Odegaard left limping by 'nasty' kick from Real Madrid star

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Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was still limping more than an hour after the final whistle in Oslo on Sunday, having been caught by a late challenge from Portugal's Bernardo Silva in stoppage time of Norway's 2-1 Nations League defeat.

Silva, who left Manchester City for Real Madrid in the offseason, caught the Arsenal skipper on the ankle long after the ball had gone. The referee produced only a yellow card.

Odegaard was filmed repeatedly shouting an expletive at a player he spent years battling in the Premier League, and he did not hold back afterwards either.

'He completely lost his head'

Speaking to Norwegian broadcaster TV2, as relayed by Metro, Odegaard said: "This has no place on a football pitch. It's a shame that people behave like that. He completely lost his head. He just kicks me down long after I've played the ball. I don't understand what he's doing."

Asked to explain the challenge, the Arsenal captain added: "You have to ask him. I don't know what he's doing. It's a shame that people behave like that, but that's life."

Norway defender Leo Ostigard felt the officials had got the decision wrong. "From the video replay, the tackle was extremely ugly. I think a red card would have been fully justified," he said.

"It's a really nasty one. It's just absolutely awful to do. That's the kind of thing we don't want to see happen to our captain. When it comes that long after the ball has gone, it looks pretty deliberate."

Solbakken: 'Completely unnecessary'

Norway head coach Stale Solbakken was similarly unimpressed, calling the challenge "completely unnecessary" before adding: "It's a nasty challenge, and it's right on the borderline of a red card. His motivation is to stop the play, and he comes in from behind."

The images of Odegaard making his way gingerly towards the team bus will inevitably be the detail that concerns Arsenal supporters most. The Norwegian's fitness has been a recurring storyline during his time as captain, and any knock picked up on international duty is the sort of scenario clubs dread when their players head away.

There has been no official update from Arsenal on the extent of the injury, and no timeline has been put on how long — if at all — Odegaard might be affected.

The two sides are not finished with each other yet. Norway and Portugal meet again on October 4, meaning Odegaard and Silva could be sharing a pitch once more inside a week, with the reverse fixture set for Portugal.

Whether Odegaard is fit enough to feature in that return meeting — and in what condition he reports back to London Colney afterwards — is the question Arsenal will now be monitoring closely.