Carlo Ancelotti arrived in London with Napoli unable to forget the last time he came across Arsenal when he was manager of Bayern Munich and guided his team to a 10-2 aggregate victory.
“If I said I forgot it’s not true,” he said. “But every game is a totally different story. With a different style and different teams, new players have arrived and this is a new era. Arsenal are still competitive in the Premier League and in Europe so we have a lot of respect for this club. The game with Bayern is only a good memory.”
His team are second in Serie A but have, by his admission, had their confidence dented by two consecutive poor results against Empoli and Genoa. But Ancelotti is highly focused on how the 90 minutes at the Emirates Stadium will set up the tie for the second leg he relishes at Stadio San Paolo next week. “It is not going to be decisive but I am sure if we defend well we can attack even better.”
Ancelotti was glad to be back in London, where his memories of a title‑winning period in the Premier League with Chelsea were “unforgettable”. Coming up against Arsenal he will renew acquaintances with Mesut Özil, whose path he crossed only briefly at Real Madrid before the transfer to Arsenal was sanctioned.
“I didn’t spend lot of time with him. I appreciate he is having a fantastic career and if he plays it will be for sure difficult for us,” he said diplomatically, before being pressed for the reasons for the sale. “I am getting old. I have to think about this … He received a good offer from Arsenal, wanted to try a new experience, so for this reason me and club gave him the possibility to have another experience.”
Ancelotti was reportedly in the mix when the names were bandied around to replace Arsène Wenger last season but he disputed that there were detailed conversations about it. “I was not involved in the new era of Arsenal without Arsène. I sometimes talk with him but not about his replacement. We talk French wine, the differences between Italian food and French food.”
These diversions in the conversation were pleasant enough but Ancelotti is concentrated on this fascinating Europa League tie, with both managers contemplating how to find the right balance between stout defending and the chase for goals.
Unai Emery has urged his team to seize the opportunity to take a lead to Naples. Arsenal’s feeble away record increases the emphasis on a vibrant performance at the Emirates Stadium to keep their ambitions alive.
“We are going to play knowing we need to win,” Emery said. “In the last rounds we played the first leg away and we needed to come back at home because the result was not good. Now we are going to play at home but this club, these players, me as a coach, have experienced different moments. The idea is to be competitive in two matches.”
Emery might have to show the kind of ambition that inspired him to play offensive lineups in Arsenal’s most encouraging recent displays at home against Manchester United (2-0) and Rennes (3-0), with all of their best attacking players on show.