Max Allegri makes Arsenal Champions League claim ahead of Napoli clash | Football

Massimiliano Allegri has revealed Arsenal’s ‘greatest strength’ as Napoli prepare to face ‘one of the best’ teams in world football in the Champions League.

Mikel Arteta’s Premier League champions were a penalty shootout away from winning the Champions League for the first time back in May.

The Gunners kick-start their 2026-27 Champions League campaign on Wednesday night with a trip to Italy to face Napoli.

Arsenal have enjoyed a flawless start to the new season and are one of only two Premier League teams to boast a perfect start after three games.

Allegri’s Napoli have been nowhere near as impressive, losing two Serie A games in a row after an opening win over Genoa.

‘Tomorrow is a different competition from Serie A, a sort of mini-league, where we need 12 points to secure qualification for the next round,’ Allegri said.

‘Arsenal are the Champions League finalists and won the Premier League, Mikel Arteta has done an extraordinary job in the last four years.

‘He did well to sort out their defence, as Arsenal concede very few goals, and they work together as a team. It’s their greatest strength.

‘We know the difficulties of this match, which we must go into with pride and the desire to do well.

‘We are up against one of the best, Europe gives you different motivation and adrenaline. When we don’t have the ball, we must defend better as a team, because so far against both Como and Inter, we left something to be desired on that front.

‘We’ve got to take it one step at a time, but also have faith, because the Champions League is an ambition we must all have. This will push us forward.’

Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo also heaped praise on ‘strong team’ Arsenal ahead of the Champions League opener in Naples.

‘This game arrives at the right time, as it’s good after a defeat to get straight back out there,’ the Italy international said.

‘We want to start strong in the Champions League, we’re ready for a good game and analysed the errors that we made last week.

‘We went back over the errors that were made. I know that conceding three goals in one half isn’t something that makes us happy, it means we clearly made mistakes, and must do better from tomorrow,” continued the captain.

‘In the Champions League, the level is so high that you are punished by the tiniest error, so we need the perfect performance in order to get a result.

‘We’ve got to try to defend as a unit to control certain moments of the match better and understand what is happening. We’ve also got to defend with the ball.

‘This is a strong team, an important test to see our level in a great competition, where we want to do better than last season.’

Arsenal were due to travel to Italy on Tuesday afternoon but their flight was significantly delayed by air traffic issues in the UK.

As a result Arteta’s squad are now expected to land at approximately 9.30pm, with the team’s news conference and media activities cancelled in accordance with UEFA.

Cristhian Mosquera will not be part of Arsenal’s travelling party as he continues his recovery from the injury he picked up in the recent win over Aston Villa.

Jurrien Timber did travel with his teammates, however, and could be in line for his first minutes of the season against Italian giants Napoli.

Antonio Conte’s Napoli failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League last season, finishing 30th out of 36 teams.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

MORE: ‘Too soon’ – Emmanuel Petit rules one team out of Premier League title race

MORE: Napoli reveal how long Scott McTominay will be out for after heart surgery

MORE: Rene Meulensteen says Man Utd should have signed Spain’s World Cup hero