Napoli are now managed by Massimiliano Allegri, the Italian who turned Juventus into a domestic powerhouse and twice took them to the Champions League final, only to lose both.
Napoli are now managed by Massimiliano Allegri, the Italian who turned Juventus into a domestic powerhouse and twice took them to the Champions League final, only to lose both.
Arsenal do not need the Champions League to prove that they are a big club.
That argument should have been settled long ago, given their history, their support and their place in English football, where 13 league titles and a record 14 FA Cups tell only part of the story.
Yet there remains one uncomfortable omission from Arsenal's otherwise formidable CV, and it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore the closer Mikel Arteta takes them to the summit of European football: They have never won the European Cup or Champions League.
For a club of Arsenal's size, that absence has become more significant precisely because of the progress made under Arteta.
Last season, having already ended a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, Arsenal came within a penalty shootout of becoming European champions, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the final in Budapest after a 1-1 draw.
It was the culmination of an extraordinary Champions League campaign in which Arsenal won all eight of their league-phase matches before beating Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-finals and overcoming Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals to reach their second European Cup final.
The defeat in Budapest should not obscure what Arsenal achieved, but it inevitably changed the expectations around them. The progression has been striking: Quarter-finals, semi-finals, final. Now comes the difficult bit.
“The last three seasons we've reached the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and now the final. What will it take for us to go one step further this year and win?” Arteta was asked.
His answer was characteristically immediate.
“Start well tomorrow. That's the only thing we can do. Start doing a big performance tomorrow to increase the probability of winning the game.”
It is a simple response, but there is a logic to it. Arsenal have spent years trying to get back into the Champions League and then proving they belong there.
Having gone further in each of the last three seasons, the next step cannot be taken by talking about the final in Madrid next June. It begins in Naples.
The trip to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is hardly an easy introduction.
Napoli are now managed by Massimiliano Allegri, the Italian who turned Juventus into a domestic powerhouse and twice took them to the Champions League final, only to lose both.
“Winning the Champions League is not easy,” Allegri said. “I was lucky enough to play in the two finals. I lost both of them. Let's hope that in the end I do a little better.”
Allegri knows better than most how much can intervene between being good enough to reach the latter stages and actually lifting the trophy.
He pointed to injuries and the condition of players when the knockout rounds arrive, while acknowledging the strength of the competition.
“There are many strong teams. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich,” he said. “I think Arsenal is a complete team. I think Arteta did very well.”
That assessment reflects the change in Arsenal's standing. They are no longer discussed as outsiders hoping to gatecrash Europe's elite. They are being mentioned alongside the clubs expected to win the competition.
Arteta is also confident that Arsenal's away record gives them a platform.
They have lost only once in their last 12 Champions League away matches, something he attributes to consistency and the identity his team has developed.
“The fact that we have been really dominant even when we play at home,” he said. “With our identity, with what we want to achieve in games. I'm convinced that we can do it.”
He knows, however, that Napoli will provide a particularly severe test.
Their flight from Luton was delayed due to storms, forcing them to miss their pre-match press conference duties, so Arteta communicated with the eagerly waiting media in the sweltering Diego Maradona
Stadium via a call.
He added: “It is a really tough place. I've been in that stadium before; I know the atmosphere they create. The record at home is really, really strong. A very experienced manager. A lot of players that played in the league as well. We know the challenge ahead. We are prepared and we're ready to go.”
Arsenal arrive with another advantage: They have won every game so far this season. For once, even the manager is happy to acknowledge the confidence that can bring.
“Yeah that puts us in a really good situation,” Arteta said. “The more the energy and the confidence around the team is high. That's what we have to show tomorrow on that pitch. Let's go.”
The squad has also been strengthened, with Viktor Gyökeres, Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie joining a group containing Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
William Saliba remains out with his back injury, while Cristhian Mosquera is also unavailable after a muscle issue. Jurrien Timber, Illan Meslier and Marli Salmon have joined the 23-player travelling squad.
Do Arsenal need to win the Champions League to be considered a really big club? No. Their history alone makes that proposition difficult to sustain.
But if the question is whether Arteta can establish this particular Arsenal side among the genuinely elite clubs of European football, victory would be transformative.
It would remove the one obvious caveat from his reconstruction of the club and turn last season's heartbreak in Budapest into the final piece of the story.
Arsenal are already a giant. Arteta has already restored them to the top of England. Now Europe is asking whether he can make them champions of it.
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