Just like 4 years ago when Barcelona and Napoli last met in European tournaments, the Catalans won 3:1 at home. Xavi’s men have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2020. In the last 2 editions of the tournament, Barca was eliminated in the group stage.
4 years ago was the last victory of Barca in the eliminations in Europe – 3:1 over Napoli at home. Then, as well as this season, the first meeting in Naples ended 1:1. And today, Barca continues forward with a total score of 4:2. The goals for Barca were scored by Fermin, Cancelo and Lewandowski. Rahmani was right for the Italians.
When the draw was made for the round of 16, the clash between Barca and Napoli was dubbed the battle of Maradona, because the legendary Argentine played for both teams. 3 weeks ago under Vesuvius, the match ended 1:1 with Barca being the better team, but could not get the victory.
Now things were more difficult for the Catalans because they were missing important figures like Pedri, De Jong and Gavi. Coach Xavi has placed in the starting team Lamin Yamal (16 years old), Pau Kubarsi (17 years old) and Fermin López (20 years old). And the hosts quickly went ahead. Fermin shot wide on the diagonal and then again he tried to cross goalkeeper Merret after an excellent pass from Koubarsi.
Things went from bad to worse for Napoli in the 121 seconds between the 15th and 17th minutes. First, Fermin finally signed off. A nice attack on the left flank ended with a pass to Cancelo, who from the outside line returned to the penalty, where Fermin calmly controlled and shot into the net – 1:0.
After another 2 minutes Barça already had a 2 goal lead. Cancelo was right this time. The Portuguese finished off a lightning-quick Catalan counter-attack that saw Rafinha hit the post, but Cancelo was on target with the addition.
However, Napoli did not give up. In the 30th minute, the guests reduced. A wonderful attack from the right ended with Politano’s pass to the onrushing Rahmani and the defender precisely sent the ball into the corner – 2:1. Rahmani is the first Kosovo international to score in the Champions League.
Napoli came close to equalizing 10 minutes before the break. Captain Di Lorenzo headed in but Ter Stegen was able to clear.
After the break, Barça failed to pull ahead again with 2 goals. Cancelo found Rafinha, who, however, shot straight at Meret. A goal by Lamin Yamal followed, but it was disallowed due to an offside. Lewandowski headed in after a corner, Meret cleared and Yamal was on target, but in an irregular position.
Napoli missed out on leveling the game at 2-2 when Oliveira’s fine cross was headed in by Lindström, but the ball went inches wide of the post.
The hosts decided everything with the third goal in the 83rd minute. Gundogan passed to Sergi Roberto behind the defense, and the reserve passed the ball to Lewandowski, who simply converted into the empty net, writes gol.bg.
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