Napoli and Barcelona stepped into the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for the round of 16 in the Champions League – both with turmoil since the group stage.
Earlier today, Napoli fired interim coach Walter Mazzarri and replaced him with Francesco Calzona. In Barcelona, which had a tough season, Xavi has announced that he is leaving after the season.
The guests sent out a starting eleven with, among others, Lamine Yamal at the top. The big talent thus became the youngest ever to play in the Champions League final – 16 years and 223 days old.
In Napoli, Swedish midfielder Jens Cajuste started, but neither he nor attacking star Victor Osimhen got into the match properly.
Barcelona started the strongest and Lamine Yamal was in the mood to play. Both he, Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gündogan had bids for 1-0, but Alex Meret in the Napoli goal was on the chopping block.
With the hour played, however, Pedri found Lewandowski, who distinctly sent in 1-0 next to Meret’s right post.
– Nice touch by Pedri and he (Lewandowski) finds the gap between the legs of (Napoli defender Giovanni) Di Lorenzo, says TV4 Play’s expert Olof Mellberg.
Soon after, Cajuste was replaced and replaced by Hamed Traorè, on loan from Bournemouth.
Dot a quarter after the 1-0 goal, another top scorer wanted to be no worse than Lewandowski. Osimhen received the ball, turned away Iñigo Martínez and slammed in 1-1.
– And then the mask comes off and then the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona sounds like this, says TV4 Play’s commentator Adam Pinthorp in the broadcast.
– I had to take the headphones off for a while to feel the sound level. Great atmosphere in here now. Strongly done by Osimhen here in the one-on-one game, says Mellberg.
The goal was Osimhen’s first since returning from the African Championships. He reached the final with his Nigeria, which fell to Ivory Coast.
Immediately after the goal, while the commentator in the arena was still shouting Osimhen’s name along with the crowd, a tired striker was replaced.
The home supporters cheered the equalizer against Barcelona, where Napoli icon Diego Maradona played before signing for Napoli in 1984.
There were no more goals – despite Gündogan’s finish in extra time. The shot went wide.
– We started really well and forced them to make mistakes. I feel that we could have been better in the final third, but we rushed a bit in our decision-making and were not patient enough, he tells TV4 Play after the match and continues:
– When we lose the ball, we are not in the right position to regain it. If we can avoid hitting longer balls and instead play shorter and be calmer – then we won’t lose as many balls. 1-1 is a good result though, away to Napoli.
The return is played on March 12.
Startelvor:
Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Lawrence, John Jesus, Rrahmani, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Cajuste; Politano, Osimhen, Quartermaster
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araujo, Martinez, Cancelo; De Jong, Christensen, Gundogan; Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski, Pedri
You can see all matches in the Champions League on TV4 Play.
