Bernardo Silva hits back over Martin Odegaard tackle that left Arsenal captain limping

Bernardo Silva does not see anything wrong with his challenge on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard

Bernardo Silva has hit back over his controversial tackle on Martin Odegaard by claiming the challenge "is football."

The Portugal international hacked down the Arsenal captain in the closing stages of his nation's 2-1 Nations League win over Norway on Sunday evening.

The backlash has dominated the headlines, not least because Odegaard was actually captured limping back onto the Norway team bus after the match.

As Bernardo walked through the mixed zone post-match, he was quizzed on the tackle. As he left the premises, he fired back: "My friend, it's football."

Norway defender Leo Ostigaard disagreed, telling Norwegian TV: "It's terribly ugly. It's just terribly bad. These are the kinds of things we don't want in our captain. When it comes so long after, it looks quite deliberate."

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Ostigaard added that he felt the tackle warranted a red card: "It's very late. When you see it afterwards on video, it's very ugly. It could well be red."

Odegaard remains optimistic he has suffered no serious damage, adding himself: "I got a knock on my ankle. It probably won't be good tonight, but I'm betting it will be fine in the next few days. He just kicked me down long after I had played the ball away. I didn't understand what he was talking about."

The playmaker sat on the turf feeling his ankle after the incident before approaching Bernardo and giving him a few home truths.

Ostigaard was also wary that Odegaard suffered a number of different injuries last season, so the player is doing his best to stay fit.

He continued: "Last year he was unlucky with a lot of injuries and he can't do anything about those things. They're going to take him because he's played ball in a hat with most of the people in the middle there. Of course they're frustrated, but you can't do that."

Martin Odegaard was furious with the challenge from Bernardo Silva(Image: TV2)

Norway have two Nations League matches left before Arsenal return to action on October 10 against Leeds United in the Premier League.

Intriguingly, Norway travel to Portugal to play Jorge Jesus' side again, which makes things rather interesting. Norway are not back in action until Thursday, when they host Wales, which gives Odegaard several days to recover.

Stale Solbakken's side are now second in Group D but it's still all to play for as they target revenge against Portugal next week.

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