Napoli – Arsenal

Napoli hosts Arsenal in a second leg from the Europa League 1/4-finals at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples. The Italian team has an uphill task after the 0-2 defeat suffered in London in the first game.

The first leg at the Emirates ended with a 2-0 win for Arsenal, which gives the Gunners a serious advantage before the second leg. Unai Emery’s team played a very good game last week, clinching the win with two goals in the first half. Aaron Ramsey opened the score for Arsenal, while Napoli’s star defender Kalidou Koulibaly scored himself an own goal just 10 minutes later.

In the second half Napoli tried to score at least one goal, but Carlo Ancelotti’s team was unable to find a way towards Petr Cech. Arsenal’s defense did a very good job, while even the inclusion of the striker Arkadiusz Milik didn’t help the Italians.

Of course, nothing is lost just yet for Napoli. The Azzurri have a spectacular strenght in attack, which gives them chances to overturn the tie in their favour. But in same time they are aware that even one away goal, scored by Arsenal, most likely will decide everything in favour of the Gunners.

You can be sure that Unai Emery will try to use the pace of his strikers in order to hurt Napoli. Players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette will use their speed in order to penetrate Napoli’s defense. For the Italian team it’s going to be a huge challenge to play attacking football, but in same time to be very concentrated in defense.

The second leg between Napoli and Arsenal could be a true Europa League classic. These two teams are both very motivated to reach the final of the competition, so on Thursday night they will try to make another step towards their goal.