Arsenal Faces Napoli in Champions League Clash
Arsenal’s final approach to Naples did not begin on the runway, but in a holding pattern over Hertfordshire.
Mikel Arteta and his players spent Tuesday afternoon stuck at their training ground as air-traffic control problems threw UK airports into chaos, forcing the cancellation of the manager’s pre‑match press conference at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and pushing back their flight to Italy.
The squad had completed their morning session as planned, then waited. And waited. Club staff stressed that nothing else in the schedule had been ripped up – same preparation, same meetings, same routine – just a much later arrival at the team hotel than they had mapped out. Uefa sanctioned the scrapping of the mandatory media duties, a rare concession but an inevitable one given the disruption, with travelling supporters also hit by delays on routes to Naples.
For a club that likes control, it was an unwelcome twist before a daunting opener.
Timber back for a new tilt at Europe
Inside the disruption, there was one clear positive. Jurriën Timber is back.
The Netherlands defender is set to be named in an Arsenal squad for the first time since the Champions League final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on 30 May, having finally shaken off the groin injury that has stalked him since March. That problem cost him the World Cup and three months of club football; Arteta had hinted before Sunday’s win over Chelsea that Timber was close, and the timeline has held.
Cristhian Mosquera remains sidelined with a muscle issue, but there is a glimpse of the future in the travelling party. Marli Salmon, the 17‑year‑old defender who signed his first professional contract last month, has been included in the 23‑man group and will feel the full weight of European away‑day expectation for the first time.
Arsenal arrive with form and scars in equal measure. They swept through last season’s group stage with eight wins from eight on their way to the final and have lost only one of their last 12 Champions League away games. Domestically, they have opened the Premier League campaign with a perfect record.
Arteta, though, has no interest in grand declarations.
“That puts us in a really good situation. The energy and the confidence around the team is high – now we have to show that,” he said before the trip. He knows what awaits them in Naples. “I’ve been in that stadium before, I know the atmosphere they create. The record at home is really, really strong. We know the challenge ahead. We are prepared and we’re ready to go.”
The message is clear: ignore the turbulence, treat this as another step, not a coronation.
Allegri’s Napoli searching for a spark
On the other side, a giant trying to remember how to stride.
Napoli finished runners-up to Inter in Serie A last season but have stumbled out of the blocks under new manager Massimiliano Allegri. The Italian returns to the Champions League touchline after a four-year absence and walks straight into one of the competition’s most dangerous opponents.
Kevin De Bruyne is expected to feature for Napoli, a major boost for a side still searching for rhythm. They will, though, be without Scott McTominay, who underwent a successful procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat and is expected to resume training in two weeks.
Anguissa is also likely to miss out, stripping Allegri of his influential former Fulham midfielder at a time when Napoli need control and personality in the middle of the pitch.
“People in this town have passion for the team, we have to start winning games again,” Allegri said. “We know we are challenging a very strong team – Arteta has done extraordinary things. Let’s face it with pride and desire.”
Pride, desire, and a cauldron of noise at the Maradona against an Arsenal side that has forgotten how to lose. One team chasing a return to its old European swagger, the other trying to prove last season’s run was only the beginning.
