BRING ON THE NOISE
Emery: We can cope with Napoli cauldron
UNAI EMERY is adamant Arsenal will not buckle as they enter a cauldron of hostility here tonight.
The Gunners head to the Stadio San Paolo with a 2-0 lead from last week’s first leg as they try to book a place in the Europa League semi-final for a second successive season.
The 60,000-capacity stadium will be deafening tonight, with locals desperate to drive Napoli to a euphoric European comeback.
But Emery believes his players can meet the challenge. He said: ‘We know it’s going to be a different match. We are waiting for their best performance here with their supporters, the stadium, the atmosphere, the skills and the capacity tactically. But I think we are ready.
‘We must play with courage and also intelligence because they have players with this capacity but our players also have a lot of experience.
‘We know 90 minutes here can be long. But we have a lot of players also to fight against them, and also our capacity for our structure to be solid.’
Sokratis agrees that winning the psychological battle tonight could be just as vital as what happens on the pitch. The defender’s combative qualities are likely to be key, though the fact he was sent off for Genoa while playing against Napoli in 2008 stands as a warning that Arsenal must keep cool heads in what will be an intense occasion.
Sokratis said: ‘The atmosphere will be very good. I already played a lot of times here but I don’t think that changes anything for us. We have a very good team and we trust ourselves. We have players who have played here before. We know it’s difficult.
‘They have a good team and the atmosphere is very good. I don’t think that will change anything. We know the situation. But we have to be focused for 95 minutes. Every game we fight for the best.
‘For us, this is one more final. We will be ready to take this. We have to play like the game is 0-0.’
Despite the comfort of a two-goal cushion, Emery claims the tie is still 50-50.
But the Gunners boss says his team will not look to safeguard their current advantage and instead look to score an away goal that would leave Carlo Ancelotti’s side needing to score at least four.
Emery added: ‘Our first target is to win. When you score in matches like this, we can take a good advantage with this goal. ‘We are starting the game by attacking when we have the ball and have the space to run but defend when we need as well. We want to play thinking to win, thinking to score, thinking to push. ‘We know it will be difficult but our mentality is to play the match thinking to win. ‘They have players with experience, they have a big history. And also, they have a great coach.’