(Football news) Barcelona went back in time to produce a vintage performance to beat Napoli 4-2 in Naples to advance to the round of 16 by an aggregate score of 5-3. The new Barca finally looked like themselves after they produced a perfect first half as goals from Alba, De Jong and Pique had pretty much settled the tie for them. This result will be a huge confidence boost for Xavi and co., especially when the fixture list is going to be tough for them

Barca wasted no time in taking the lead when Jordi Alba finished off a rapid-fire counter-attack led by Adama Traroe and then Frenkie de Jong curled in an absolute beauty from distance to give Barcelona a 2-0 advantage inside 15 minutes. However, Napoli got a back when VAR ruled that Marc-Andre ter Stegen had fouled Victor Osimhen in the penalty area and Lorenzo Insigne made no mistake from the spot to restore some parity for the home fans. Barca scored again before half-time when Gerard Pique controlled the ball and brilliantly finished it with his left to put it past Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret to restore their two goal lead in what was a thrilling opening 45 minutes. Napoli thought of coming back in the second half but were extinguished just before the hour mark when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang curled a first-time shot into the corner from a pass across the box by Adama Traore. Napoli scored a consolation goal through Matteo Politano, but it was too little too late for them.

After the match, Pique said "We have not been competing in Europe at the level a club like Barca should be, [But now] we have gone back to our origins, something we maybe had stopped doing recently. It's a message for everyone, for us and for people on the outside, that little by little we're on our way back. We're on the right path."

Rangers caused a major upset as they drew 2-2 against Dortmund to reach the Europa League Round of 16 as they secured a 6-4 aggregate win. Rangers defender James Tavernier opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Ryan Kent was fouled by Julian Brandt. Dortmund fought back from the setback, as they scored two goals just before half-time from Jude Bellingham and Donyell Malen to take the lead on the night but Rangers had other ideas, they eased their nerves when Tavernier struck again in the 57th minute.

The defending Scottish champions could have been made sure that they won the match only for having a goal ruled out in the second half after VAR review determined that Alfredo Morelos had fouled Emre Can in the build-up. The win puts Rangers into the Europa League last 16 for the third successive season as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side will learn their next opponents in the draw in Nyon.

Also read: Arsenal seal late victory over Wolves as race for top four heats up

The other results were:

• Real Betis 0 – 0 Zenit (agg 3-2)
• Braga 2 (Medeiros, Horta) – 0 Sheriff (agg 2-2)( Braga win 3-2 on Penalties)
• Olympiacos 0 – 3 Atalanta (Maehle, Malinovskyi x2) (agg 1-5)
• Lazio 2 (Immobile, Cataldi) – 2 Porto (Taremi, Uribe) (agg 3-4)
• Real Sociedad 1 (Zubimendi) – 3 RB Leipzig (Orban, A. Silva, Forsberg) (agg 3-5)
• Dinamo Zagreb 1 (Orsic) – 0 Sevilla (agg 2-3)