Napoli manager Massimiliano Allegri acknowledged Arsenal's superiority following a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League. The Italian labelled Mikel Arteta's side as one of the strongest opponents in Europe and expressed satisfaction with the performance of his players.
Arsenal controlled much of the match, registering 26 shots, with Martin Ødegaard netting the decisive goal in the second half.
After the match, Allegri stated:
We played well against one of the strongest teams in Europe. The first half was very even, but they stepped up their game in the second half.
We defended well. If we had defended like that against Como and Inter, we probably wouldn’t have lost. We need to look for positives. However, when you make mistakes in passing, you risk conceding, and that’s what happened.
I believe we played well against an outstanding opponent today.
Despite suffering three consecutive defeats across all competitions, Allegri stressed he would not criticise his team:
We knew it would be difficult. We’ve lost three in a row, but we mustn’t lose heart because I can’t find fault with the lads today. When we defend like that, it’s very hard to score.
When asked if Napoli could have done anything differently to alter the outcome, Allegri replied:
No, not today. Unfortunately, we got caught out by their combination play and couldn’t track the continuation of the attack. They are very good at those moments.
