PREVIEW: Arsenal begin Champions League quest with trip to Naples | OneFootball

Arsenal begin their Champions League campaign to win Europe’s top prize for the first time with an away trip to Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The Gunners were successful last season, finally winning the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, but in the Champions League were agonisingly defeated in the final against the now back-to-back winners, Paris Saint-Germain, on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Budapest.

Yet this season, Arsenal have started the season on fire, winning the Community Shield against the closest league rival, Manchester City, and have won all their games in the English top flight, most recently a combative win against London rivals Chelsea a few days ago.

Mikel Arteta transformed his side into a team of winners and has been steadily progressing in the Champions League to achieve a historical feat of winning it for the first time.

This season represents a reset for Arsenal’s opportunity to return to the elusive final, which will take place in Madrid next year.

Ahead of the game, speaking to Arsenal.com, the Arsenal boss emphasised having a strong start after last year’s dissatisfaction. He said: “I’m really excited. We know what this competition means to all of us, the experience of last year as well, so we need to start with the first game in a really, really tough place but really excited to start the campaign.

“Start well tomorrow; that’s the only thing we can do. Start by putting in a big performance tomorrow to increase the probability of winning the game.”

Despite Napoli finishing second in the Serie A last season with Antonio Conte, Massimiliano Allegri has taken charge this season.

It’s been a difficult start in Naples, with just one win and two losses consecutively in Italy’s first division; a defeat to Inter Milan set them back last time out.

After Napoli failed to qualify for the play-off rounds of the Champions League last season, Allegri will be aiming for more progressions in the competition, but kick-offs against Europe’s strongest teams right now.

On the eve of the match, Allegri said: “Every game starts at 0-0, but clearly Arsenal are favourites.

“We’ll need to show our strength and ability to be competitive. We’ll approach the game with determination and pride as we try to get a positive result.”

From his overall perspective of how Napoli can perform in the competition as a whole, he responded: “We have to take it one step at a time, knowing that we need to achieve a good points tally by the end.

“The Champions League is an ambition we all have to share and one that’ll drive us forward.”

The Napoli boss confirmed that midfielder Frank Anguissa will be out of the game, while other players will be assessed, but it’s known Scott Mctominay has been dealing with heart problems that left him out of the side previously.

Although Cristhian Mosquera and William Saliba are defensive assets who won’t feature in Naples, Arteta received a big boost as Jurrien Timber returned to training and is featured in the squad.

The match will kick off on Wednesday, September 9th, at 8pm BST and will be broadcast live on TNT Sports.