By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-09-09 21:42:26 | Updated at 2026-09-20 11:07:24
1 week ago
Arsenal were indebted to a glorious strike from Martin Ødegaard as they overcame Napoli 1-0 in their 2026-27 UEFA Champions League opener.
Martin Ødegaard‘s brilliant second-half finish saw Arsenal open their 2026-27 Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win away to Napoli.
Playing for the first time in Europe since losing on penalties in last season’s final against Paris Saint-Germain, Mikel Arteta’s side dominated throughout at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday.
Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino both passed up glorious first-half opportunities, before in-form Ødegaard smashed in the winner with 15 minutes remaining.
Arsenal’s control in the early stages was a sign of things to come. Viktor Gyökeres crossed for Saka to acrobatically volley straight at Alex Meret, before David Raya unconvincingly parried away Kevin De Bruyne’s long-range drive down the other end.
Napoli were fortunate to not fall behind soon after when Eberechi Eze headed Saka’s delivery across for Merino, who was denied at point-blank range by Meret.
Eze dragged wide as Arsenal’s grip on proceedings strengthened, while Piero Hincapie’s left-sided cross almost caught Meret out at his near post.
Saka then wasted the best opportunity of the first half, blazing over a left-footed finish from near the penalty spot after being slotted in perfectly by Ødegaard.
Arsenal’s dominance continued after the interval without reward. Hincapie somehow poked over inside the six-yard area following a lovely team move that saw Ødegaard scoop for Ben White to head across.
But the Gunners finally found their reward when substitute Christos Tzolis exchanged a neat one-two with Ødegaard who then hammered a left-footed drive from the edge of the area that went in via the post.
Noni Madueke should have put Arsenal out of sight with five minutes remaining, but he was denied by substitute goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic before Tzolis’ rebound attempt was blocked on the line.
Kai Havertz then thought he had killed the contest with a tap-in after Milinkovic-Savic spilt Tzolis’ effort, though a belated offside flag could not cut short Arsenal’s celebrations at the full-time whistle.
Ødegaard Delivers for Arsenal Again
Arsenal had certainly matched pre-season expectations so far, winning the Community Shield and all three Premier League matches before this trip to Naples.
Arteta did make four changes from Sunday’s 2-1 comeback victory over Chelsea, but those alterations only further highlighted Arsenal’s growing squad depth as they controlled the first half and should have taken the lead.
Indeed, Arsenal’s 13 shots across the opening 45 minutes were the most they have ever had in the first half of a Champions League away game on record (since 2003-04).
But they were unable to find a way through, with Saka particularly wasteful – his five first-half shots were worth 0.95 expected goals (xG), in comparison to Napoli’s 0.12 as an entire team before half-time.
It seemed a promising showing would go without reward until Ødegaard, who scored the winner against Chelsea, delivered once again.
Arteta will feel it was a deserved victory, too, after his side accumulated a massive 4.05 expected goals (xG) to Napoli’s meagre 0.22.
But questions remain for Massimiliano Allegri. Napoli rarely ventured forward in this clash, and the pressure may soon heighten after this defeat followed back-to-back Serie A losses against Como and Inter.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Napoli vs Arsenal stats from their UEFA Champions League meeting at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples on Wednesday 9 September 2026.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Napoli 0-1 Arsenal: Post-Match Opta Facts
- Arsenal have won their last 13 group stage games in the UEFA Champions League, the second-longest run in the competition’s history after Bayern Munich (17 between December 2020 and November 2023).
- Arsenal have kept 20 clean sheets in 40 UEFA Champions League games under Mikel Arteta, four more than any other side since the start of 2023-24.
- Napoli have lost consecutive UEFA Champions League home games for the first time, while three of their six home defeats overall in the competition have come against Premier League sides.
- Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard scored his first UEFA Champions League goal since March 2025 (2 vs PSV), while three of his six goals overall in the competition have come from outside the box.
- Each of Christos Tzolis’ last three assists for Arsenal in all competitions have been for Martin Ødegaard goals.
- As well as scoring the winner, Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard created the most chances (6), had the most touches (120) and made the most passes that broke the defensive line (5) in the match.
- Arsenal’s 26 shots against Napoli was their most on record (since 2003-04) in a single UEFA Champions League match, while it was also the most Napoli have ever faced in the competition.
- There were 29 passes in the build-up to Arsenal’s winner, their second-most on record (since 2003-04) for a UEFA Champions League goal (33 for Lucas Pérez’s second at Basel in December 2016).
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