Arsenal's Journey to Champions League Glory Begins in Naples
Arsenal’s long road back to the Champions League final starts in a place that understands obsession and suffering better than most: Naples.
Fresh from dismantling Chelsea in the Premier League, Mikel Arteta’s side swap London comfort for Italian chaos on Wednesday night, walking into the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with one thing on their minds. Not revenge for Budapest. Something colder than that. Completion.
From Budapest heartbreak to one last step
Arsenal came within two kicks of the Champions League last season, only to watch Paris Saint-Germain lift the trophy after a penalty shootout in Budapest. It was a final that exposed the fine margins at this level. PSG arrived fresher, the Ligue 1 title wrapped up weeks earlier. Arsenal dragged themselves there after an exhausting league run-in, legs heavy, minds frayed.
The pain of that night will not fade quickly, but inside the club it has become a reference point rather than a scar. Since Arteta first dragged Arsenal back into Europe’s top competition after the 2022/23 season, their trajectory has been brutally clear: quarterfinals in 2023/24, semifinals in 2024/25, runners-up last season.
There is only one rung left on that ladder. One that has always slipped away from Arsenal’s grasp. Winning the Champions League is no longer a dream; it is the only logical next step for a side that has outgrown its old ceiling and now wants to sit among the permanent elite.
That climb starts again in Naples.
A new format, the same ruthless demands
This will be the third season of the revamped league phase, a modern, congested version of the old group stage. Eight games, eight different opponents, two from each of four seeded pots, all arranged by UEFA’s coefficient. Champions and heavyweights in Pot 1, hopefuls and newcomers down in Pot 4.
Finish in the top eight and you skip the first knockout round entirely. Arsenal have managed that in both previous years, even topping the entire league phase last season. Inside the dressing room, that bye is no longer a bonus. It’s a baseline.
Eight matches sound generous on paper. They are not. A couple of bad nights and the margins close quickly. Which is why Arsenal, yet again starting their campaign away from home, know that a strong opening performance in Naples isn’t a luxury. It’s protection for the months ahead.
Their path this time is demanding and glamorous in equal measure:
- Napoli (A) – September 9
- Lille (H) – October 13
- Bayern Munich (A) – October 21
- Slavia Prague (A) – November 4
- Borussia Dortmund (H) – November 24
- Real Madrid (H) – December 9
- Real Betis (A) – January 20
- Sabah FK (H) – January 27
Napoli away, Bayern away, Real Madrid at home. This is not a schedule that allows anyone to drift into form.
Napoli: wounded, reshaped, and dangerous
On paper, the contrast in early-season form is stark. Arsenal have opened their Premier League defence with three wins from three and look as sharp as a side that fully intends to go deep again in Europe. Napoli sit 13th in Serie A with a 1-0-2 record, beaten in two of their first three league matches.
Scratch the surface and it looks less straightforward.
Those defeats came against Inter Milan, currently third, and Como, sitting second. Napoli have also had to manage injuries to important players. The table says mid-table strugglers. The squad list says something else.
This is a club only two years removed from winning Serie A in 2024/25, their second domestic title in five seasons. They added the Supercoppa Italiana last season as well. Inside Italy, their pedigree is not in question. Their problem has been exporting that authority into Europe.
Last year’s Champions League run was a mess. Just two wins in the league phase, an early exit in January, and a campaign that never really caught fire. Like Arsenal, Napoli have never turned domestic power into continental dominance. Unlike Arsenal, they are nowhere near the list of favourites this time. But they have enough quality to hurt anyone over 90 minutes.
Allegri’s puzzle and a missing No. 9
Massimiliano Allegri has been tasked with stitching all of this together. The veteran coach took over after Antonio Conte left at the end of the 2025/26 season, inheriting a squad that had already peaked domestically but still demanded more.
Allegri’s reputation in Serie A is formidable, yet his last league title came with Juventus in 2018/19. In Naples, the question hangs over him: can he turn a side in transition back into a contender, or is this another short-term stop for a manager whose best days are behind him?
The squad is talented but unbalanced. The attack, in particular, carries a glaring question mark. Victor Osimhen departed for Turkey two seasons ago. This summer, Romelu Lukaku followed the same path, leaving another hole at centre-forward.
Napoli moved for Rasmus Højlund from Manchester United. It is not the kind of headline signing that shifts the European landscape, but he steps into a team with a clear spine and familiar faces. Scott McTominay, another former United player, is there when fit. Kevin De Bruyne, the Manchester City great, offers a level of vision and experience that still changes games.
Behind them, the club has reshaped the squad. In came Højlund, Alisson Santos from Sporting, Vanja Milinković-Savić from Torino, Benoît Badiashile on loan from Chelsea, plus Costantino Favasuli, Mattia Esposito and Dinis Rodrigues to deepen the options.
Out went Miguel Gutiérrez to Leverkusen, Giovanni Simeone to Torino, Lukaku to Fenerbahçe, Alessandro Zanoli to Udinese, Luis Hasa and Alessio Zerbi to Frosinone, and Walid Cheddira to Avellino.
The injury list complicates things further. Alessandro Buongiorno (knee), Luca Marianucci (ligament), Scott McTominay (arrhythmia) and Giovani (hernia) are all sidelined, stripping Allegri of depth and some of the physical presence he might have leaned on against Arsenal.
Napoli are not the finished product. But they are not the soft touch their league position implies either.
Arsenal’s standard, not their ceiling
Arsenal’s all-time record against Napoli reads 3-0-1. History leans their way. So does current form. They arrive as Premier League champions, with rhythm, confidence and a clear identity.
That brings its own pressure.
Arteta’s group no longer sneak into these nights as outsiders. They walk into them as one of the sides everyone else measures themselves against. The expectation is that they will control, impose, dictate. That they will secure another top-eight finish in the league phase. That they will go back to the latter stages again.
The setting will test that. The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona can suffocate visiting teams when Napoli find their edge, and Allegri knows how to turn a game into a tactical grind. For Arsenal, this is not just about three points. It is about announcing that last season’s run to the final was not the peak of a cycle, but the start of something more ruthless.
The stage is set:
- WHO: Napoli vs Arsenal
- WHAT: Champions League league phase, Matchday 1
- WHEN: Wednesday, September 9, 3:00pm EST / 12:00pm PST / 8:00pm GMT
- WHERE: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples
The Champions League has already given Arsenal a roadmap: quarterfinals, semifinals, final. There is only one way left to go. How many more chances will they get to climb that last step?
