

Rafa Benítez already knows the key to their first defeat: the overwhelming first half that Arsenal played in their London stadium: "We paid dearly for the initial errors, which we made at the very beginning of the game". The Neapolitan team looked to come back in the second half but found the 'Gunners' in top form.



"We have failed to start, lines up more than Arsenal. We made a mistake and suddenly we were punished with the scoring the first goal of the game", Benítez recognized in the press conference after Napoli’s Champions League meeting against Arsenal. "It is clear that the first twenty minutes of the game have made a difference at the end", continued the coach of the 'Azurro', "this is something that we had talked about with the players, - the initial start would be crucial, the first few minutes entering into the game".



Despite the poor result, Benítez believes that due to the inexperience of his team justifying it before talking about "mistakes against a team that at this level, become fatal without a solution. After his first goal, confidence has been lost and the game has been very was in favour of Arsenal. I liked the spirit of our players in the second half but they already had the match in their hands and it was difficult to turn around".



When asked if they had missed the presence of Gonzalo Higuaín on the field, the Spanish coach answered emphatically that "when you buy a player like Higuaín, you can not acquire another player of his stature and when he is not on the pitch, it is obvious that you lose weight in the attack. But tonight I do not think it was a matter of a single man, but rather a matter of the whole team", Benítez explained to media representatives gathered at the 'Emirates Stadium', "Arsenal has been quick in scoring and kept possession of the ball, I think that explains it all".



The project has just started and the road is long, this defeat will not affect the mentality Napoli says Benítez as coach because, "we must continue to work , there is still time and still nothing has been decided in the Champions League. On Sunday we again have a game in Serie A and want to resume as quickly as possible on the winning path".