Declan Rice sends message to Kevin De Bruyne after Arsenal beat Napoli | Football

Declan Rice insists Kevin De Bruyne still caused Arsenal problems during their 1-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League.

Martin Odegaard’s late strike sealed the victory for Mikel Arteta’s side in the first game of the Champions League league phase on Wednesday night.

De Bruyne, meanwhile, was handed his first start of the campaign after making only three appearances as a substitute in Serie A this season.

Rice has extensive experience of facing De Bruyne following their time together in the Premier League and the Arsenal midfielder admits it was ‘nice’ to play against his former rival once again.

Asked about playing against De Bruyne, Rice said: ‘Yeah, good, really good.

‘A player that, even tonight, even though we won, he caused a lot of problems still. A player that’s so smart, moves into really good spaces.

‘It was realy nice to see him again after playing against him for so long.’

Arteta, meanwhile, exchanged friendly words with De Bruyne after the full-time whistle.

‘If there is a player in Napoli that is one of my favourite-ever players, that is Kevin De Bruyne, who I had the luxury to train and to be with him for almost four years,’ Arteta said after Arsenal’s win in Naples.

‘In my opinion, he is one of the best midfielders ever and still a joy to watch him play.’

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