Massimiliano Allegri wary of Arsenal's 'greatest strength' as Napoli prepare for Champions League showdown

The Napoli head coach has hailed Arteta for the "extraordinary job" he has performed at the Emirates Stadium over the last four years. As the two sides prepare to clash in the Champions League, Allegri pointed to Arsenal's defensive solidity as the primary reason for their rise to the top of the English game and their status as European heavyweights, with the Gunners conceding just a single goal in three games this season.

Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Allegri was full of praise for the Premier League champions, stating: "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."

The Italian giants have endured a difficult start to their domestic campaign, suffering back-to-back defeats in Serie A under their new manager. Allegri is hoping that the bright lights of the Champions League will provide the necessary spark to ignite their season, though he admitted that his side must improve their collective work rate if they are to stand a chance against the north London outfit.

Allegri highlighted the need for a mental shift, noting: "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.

"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."

Captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo echoed his manager's sentiments, acknowledging that the Partenopei cannot afford the lapses in concentration that have plagued them recently. After finishing 30th out of 36 teams in the competition last year, the Italian international is desperate to prove that Napoli belong at this level by testing themselves against Arteta's well-drilled unit.

"This game arrives at the right time, as it’s good after a defeat to get straight back out there," Di Lorenzo 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."

He continued: "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.

"They are a strong team, an important test to see our level in a great competition, where we want to do better than last season."

Arsenal's preparations were slightly hampered by air traffic issues in the United Kingdom, leading to a significant delay in their flight to Italy. Despite the logistical headache and the absence of Cristhian Mosquera, the Gunners are buoyed by the return of Jurrien Timber to the matchday squad, while Napoli are forced to plan for life without Scott McTominay following his recent surgery.