Arsenal Edges Napoli 1-0 to Open Champions League Campaign
Arsenal kicked off their Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Napoli, courtesy of a goal by captain Martin Ødegaard.
Arsenal secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Napoli on Wednesday night, kicking off their Champions League campaign on the right foot. The Premier League side now boasts 13 consecutive wins in the Champions League group and league phase, marking the second-longest streak in history behind Bayern Munich's 17 consecutive victories between 2020 and 2023.
"Three points that we completely deserve," manager Mikel Arteta summarized. "The scoreline probably doesn't reflect the performance, the team was excellent. We showed a lot of quality in many moments to break through their defense, and it's a pity because we missed so many great chances. Any other day the result would have been different."
Commenting on captain and match-winner Martin Ødegaard, Arteta added: "Martin contributes with goals that impact results, and that is exactly what we want from our attacking players — to be decisive, and he certainly was like that again today. We should have closed out the game differently, considering the number of chances we created."
Ødegaard himself noted: "It was a pretty tough game for me. It might be that I'm still feeling a bit of fatigue from the World Cup, but I feel good and I'm in good shape. Last season I suffered from injuries and couldn't reach this form."
