How Arsenal dismantled Napoli in the Champions League and fully deserved their victory

[p]The last time the two sides met was also in Naples in the 2019 Europa League quarter-finals, and on that occasion, the North Londoners earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory thanks to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lacazette-alexandre/YegtWFr9/"]Alexandre Lacazette[/a].[/p][h2]Arsenal in great form[/h2][p]You have to go back to December 2013 for the previous Champions League meeting, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/napoli/69Dxbc61/"]Napoli[/a] winning 2-0 in that game.[/p][p]After agonisingly losing on penalties in last season's final to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]Paris Saint-Germain[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arteta-mikel/lAbHYaQM/"]Mikel Arteta[/a] and his squad were looking to go one better this year.[/p][embed guid="ad7a04c3-b27d-438e-a67c-7c3ec936ede3" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2097728913703100881" social-type="twitter" /][p]Incredibly, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Gunners[/a] didn't lose a single UCL game in 90 minutes during the 2025/26 campaign, yet still couldn't triumph and lift the trophy for the first time in their history.[/p][p]They'd begun the Premier League season in fine style, however, winning all of their matches so far, whilst the Partenopei went into the game having won one and lost two of their opening three Serie A matches.[/p][h2]Gyokeres involved from the start[/h2][p]Napoli did have a formidable UCL home record to protect, too, having only lost one of their four matches in the competition last season.[/p][p]The hosts were on the back foot in the opening stages of this game, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gyokeres-viktor/zaBZ1xIk/"]Viktor Gyokeres[/a] unusually heavily involved from the first whistle.[/p][embed guid="65920939-4b53-4e93-8a5c-8ea502ba7411" url="https://x.com/en_sscnapoli/status/2097791102443049161" social-type="twitter" /][p]He'd already created three chances before 15 minutes was on the clock, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saka-bukayo/08NLEo06/"]Bukayo Saka[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eze-eberechi/Stf4BYFn/"]Eberechi Eze[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gabriel/tEcnVXMS/"]Gabriel Magalhaes[/a] all seeing their efforts blocked.[/p][p]Much was expected of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-bruyne-kevin/MsPs6OI5/"]Kevin De Bruyne[/a], Napoli's creator-in-chief, and the former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Man City[/a] ace did have his side's first attempt at goal, though this didn't arrive until the quarter hour, with just under 50% of the game being played in Napoli's defensive third of the pitch to that point.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/napoli-69Dxbc61/?mid=juiAv14K"]Catch up on all the stats from Napoli v Arsenal here![/a][/b][/p][h2]Napoli's defence under immense pressure[/h2][p]The hosts' back line was under immense pressure and was seemingly unable to stem the tide, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rrahmani-amir/8Sw4X8wk/"]Amir Rrahmani[/a] not making any tackles whatsoever, and both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marin-rafa/KIwYY1AC/"]Rafa Marin[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olivera-mathias/bwAJqLBt/"]Mathias Olivera[/a] winning only one of theirs.[/p][p]Along with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/di-lorenzo-giovanni/MP69NX2i/"]Giovanni Di Lorenzo[/a], all four were heavily involved in one-on-one duels with their opposite numbers, but there too, it was the visitors who were on top. For example, Marin attempted nine but won just three, and none of his aerial battles.[/p][image alt="Napoli v Arsenal - Momentum shift" id="ca832ba6-6ead-43c1-9a83-a4f3fd70bf79" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="cd1a15ba-2b54-45b0-a813-e230a106c93d" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]By half-time, Arsenal had already attempted eight efforts on goal, with Saka having five of them, and they were simply playing Napoli off the park.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/konsa-ezri/4CQLQWTa/"]Ezri Konsa[/a]'s unbeatable 100% pass completion complemented his performance, whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rice-declan/zkQ8Cm6n/"]Declan Rice[/a] (93.9%), Eze (95.5%) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hincapie-pedro/2TTElOLP/"]Piero Hincapie[/a] (97.1%), among others, gave a masterclass in control and ball manipulation.[/p][h2]Poor distribution from De Bruyne[/h2][p]Oddly enough, after his storming start to the half, Gyokeres had touched the ball only six times in total before the whistle was blown to end the first 45.[/p][p]Three substitutions from the hosts before the hour was inevitable, as Arteta's men had a complete stranglehold on the game after the break. [/p][image alt="Napoli v Arsenal - Match Stats" id="d620865e-fa5e-4cfe-8ab9-5d3f9d4cfd21" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="aa69574a-e3af-4a9a-89d9-4d830f6c5205" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]An astonishing 81% collective possession in the opening 15 minutes of the second half had Napoli completely on the back foot, and De Bruyne's own 69% pass completion - unheard of from the Belgian - told the story.[/p][p]Though it took until the 75th minute for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/odegaard-martin/ID32TGhp/"]Martin Odegaard[/a] to break the deadlock, the Norwegian enjoying a great start to his season, the goal was always coming.[/p][h2]Odegaard's winner no more than Arsenal deserved[/h2][p]Napoli managed only eight touches in the Arsenal box, including [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hojlund-rasmus/0lk9Mt7D/"]Rasmus Hojlund[/a]'s off-target shot on the hour - their last effort at goal in the game - whilst at the other end the Gunners had 51. [/p][p]The only real surprise was that the hosts had held out for so long.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tzolis-christos/484Acu9H/"]Christos Tzolis[/a], who had assisted Odegaard, had a late effort cleared off the line, and probably more by luck than judgement did the Partenopei not concede any further goals on the night.[/p][embed guid="1d31bb51-7c3f-4e71-91eb-e2a465d70bf7" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2097805322429837341" social-type="twitter" /][p]The visitors' 26 total efforts and 608 passes attempted were both the most in the competition since the beginning of last season, whilst Napoli's fourth UCL game without a win is their longest such run since 2004/05.[/p][p]If ever there was a final score that wasn't a true reflection of the game, this was it, for Arsenal were so much better in every department than the Italian giants.[/p][p]Massimiliano Allegri's side travel to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/villarreal/lUatW5jE/"]Villarreal[/a] for their next UCL assignment, and they'll be hoping that their recent poor form in the competition can take a back seat against the side that finished second from bottom last season, with no wins in their eight matches.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]