Allegri: ‘Napoli have only four midfielders, Arteta sorted out Arsenal defence’
Max Allegri reveals Napoli lost Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa too in the Champions League. ‘Mikel Arteta sorted out the Arsenal defence, tomorrow I have four midfielders, three will start.’
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday at 20.00 UK time (21.00 CEST).
This is the first Champions League tie of the season for the Partenopei, who have run into difficulty under their new coach since Antonio Conte’s departure.
After winning the Serie A opener at Genoa, they lost to both Como and Inter, suffering back-to-back defeats.
Allegri wants new Napoli start in Europe
“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,” said Allegri in his press conference.
While Napoli failed to get beyond the league phase last season, Arsenal made it all the way to the Final, eventually capitulating to Paris Saint-Germain.
“Arsenal are the vice-champions of Europe, won the Premier League, and Mikel Arteta has done an extraordinary job in the last four years. We know the difficulties of this match, which we must go into with pride and the desire to do well.”
Considering the struggles that Napoli have had, it has been suggested that Allegri could scrap the 4-3-3 formation, especially after losing Scott McTominay for a couple of months to heart surgery.
“Absolutely not, there will not be a change of system. As you know, McTominay had an operation this morning, but we’ve also lost Anguissa, who had an adductor problem today. It’s a question mark over David Neres too, we’ll see if his knee is still bothering him tomorrow morning, because he might be out too.
“I’ve only got four midfielders, so three of them will start tomorrow.”
Kevin De Bruyne has largely been a substitute figure so far this season after last year’s injuries.
“He is an extraordinary player, who only arrived to work with us on August 5, but he will probably be ready to play tomorrow.”
Napoli had been leading 2-0 at San Siro before Inter came back for the 3-2 victory, so that had to hit confidence hard.
“It was a beautiful game on Saturday, also due to our naivete, but Inter could well say the same. This is football, but tomorrow is a different tournament entirely,” insisted Allegri.
“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.”
Arsenal won the Premier League last season after a lengthy absence from that trophy, having come close several times under Arteta.
“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,” noted Allegri.
