(Football news) The match in Naples ended in a 1-1 draw, but not before the star strikers of both teams scored goals. This set up an epic battle in Catalonia. After both Barcelona and Napoli barely survived the autumn group stage of the Champions League, the teams met last month in the stadium that now bears Diego Maradona’s name. The two teams have been linked for eternity.
Before the hosts’ star striker Victor Osimhen leveled things on 75 minutes, in his first game since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona turned back the clock to produce a beautiful finish as the hour-mark approached, moving seven goals shy of his century in Europe’s top club competition.
Though Lewandowski’s 12th goal in as many Champions League knockout games was not quite enough to earn Xavi’s men a valuable first-leg lead, they will be all-square ahead of this week’s return game on home turf and remain unbeaten in five meetings with the Partenopei.
Knocking Napoli out of Europe for the third time in five years would see the Catalan club make a first quarter-final appearance since 2020 – and results since Xavi announced his forthcoming departure suggest they can progress again this season.
Following Friday’s 1-0 win over Mallorca, secured by Lamine Yamal’s superb second-half winner, Barcelona are unbeaten in eight matches and – despite sustaining a number of injuries – have kept clean sheets in each of the last three.
Still trailing behind old foes Real Madrid in La Liga’s title race and also out of the Copa del Rey, Barca are surely relying on landing Europe’s top prize if they are to avoid ending a difficult campaign without silverware.
When the Blaugrana have avoided defeat away from home in the first leg of a Champions League tie, they have then gone through on 20 out of 21 previous occasions. However, they have not won any of their last four knockout matches since beating Napoli in the ‘Maradona derby’ four years ago.
Napoli, on the other hand, have a history of not being able to bounce back from first-leg losses in UEFA competition; in the 11 previous instances that they failed to take a lead into an away game, they were eliminated.
The Serie A champions, who finished as quarter finalists in the previous season, have struggled to win the Champions League this year under Rudi Garcia and Walter Mazzarri, who both fell short in their attempts to succeed Scudetto winner Luciano Spalletti. Instead, they finished as Group C runners-up.
Just a few days before the first leg of the match last month, interim manager Francesco Calzona returned to Naples, making him the team’s third head coach of the year. However, things are starting to look better now that Osimhen has returned from his international service and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has found his best gear.
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