‘They’re very good’ - Allegri claims Arsenal are a difficult team to defeat

The Italian side suffered a narrow 1-0 Champions League loss to Arsenal at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. 

Arsenal began their Champions League campaign with a hard-earned win in Italy on Wednesday night, overcoming a stubborn Napoli side. 

Captain Martin Odegaard was the hero for the visitors, finding a second-half breakthrough to seal the three points.

In his post-match comments, Allegri was full of admiration for Arsenal and defended his own players' performance. 

The Napoli coach believed his team put up a strong fight against an opponent he considers to be among the very best.

Despite a determined defensive effort, Allegri acknowledged that his team was ultimately outclassed by the visitors' quality.

"We played a good match against one of the strongest teams in Europe," Allegri said. "The first half was very even, then they upped the tempo in the second. I think this evening we had a good performance against an extraordinary opponent."

The Italian manager also identified the specific attacking move that led to his team's downfall. "Unfortunately, we fell for a one-two that we didn’t follow through on," he noted. "They’re very good at that."

Mikel Arteta's squad dominated the match from the start but struggled to turn their clear advantage into a lead. 

The Gunners registered an incredible 26 shots before their captain finally broke through the home side's defence to score the decisive goal.