Allegri Says Arsenal Are One of the Best Teams in the World Ahead of Champions League Clash

Napoli boss Massimiliano Allegri has told his players they are facing one of the top sides in world football when Arsenal visit Naples for their Champions League opener.

The Italian coach praised Mikel Arteta for turning Arsenal into a defensive powerhouse, pointing out that the Gunners have let in just one goal in three games this season.

"Arsenal are the Champions League finalists and won the Premier League, Mikel Arteta has done an extraordinary job in the last four years," Allegri told reporters. "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 comments come at a rough time for Napoli, who have lost their last two Serie A games under their new manager. Allegri is hoping the Champions League can help turn things around, but admitted his team needs to work harder without the ball.

"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," he said. "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."

He added that Napoli have not defended well enough as a unit in their last two outings, saying, "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."

Captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo backed up his manager, saying the team cannot repeat the mistakes that cost them in their last match. "This game arrives at the right time, as it's good after a defeat to get straight back out there," he 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."

Di Lorenzo did not hide his frustration over Napoli's recent defensive lapses, noting, "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 also stressed how little room for error there is at this level. "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," he said.

Napoli finished near the bottom of last season's expanded Champions League table, and Di Lorenzo said the club wants to show they belong among Europe's elite. "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," he said.

Arsenal, meanwhile, had a bumpy trip to Italy after flight delays linked to air traffic problems in the UK. The club will also be without defender Cristhian Mosquera for the match, though Jurrien Timber has returned to the squad. Napoli, for their part, will be missing Scott McTominay, who is recovering from surgery.