SSC Napoli players drew 1:1 with FC Barcelona in the opening match of the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday. The coach of the Slovak national team, Francesco Calzona, made his debut on the “Partenopei” bench, under whose leadership Stanislav Lobotka played the entire duel. Rematch is scheduled for March 12.
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Calzona had a sharp start to his premiership as a head coach at the club level. Slovak representative Stanislav Lobotka, who played the entire match, was an important part of the central formation of the team from under Vesuvius.
The Nigerian striker Osimhen, who was supposed to be the biggest offensive weapon of Calzon’s team, returned to the “Partenopei” lineup for the first time since coming from the African Cup of Nations.
Another record was broken by Spanish winger Lamine Yamal. At the age of 16 years and 223 days, he became the youngest player in history to start in the elimination phase of the LM.
It was the offensive “jewel” of the Catalans who had the opening opportunity of the meeting, but his shot from the fourth minute went over Meret’s goal. The “Blaugranas” faced the opponent with a high level of attack, which caused significant problems for the home team at the start of the match. Yamal also got another opportunity, he was the first to head into the goal area. Midfielder Gündogan had the third chance of the match in the 24th minute, but his sharp shot was deflected into the corner by the SSC goalkeeper.
After the change of sides, the tempo of the match dropped slightly, but after an hour of play, the Polish gunner Lewandowski struck, sending the Catalans into the lead after Pedri’s pass. The offensive players of Napoli could not keep on the ball for longer during the opening hour and in the 68th minute Calzona withdrew the Georgian playmaker Kvaracchelija from the game. Together with Osimhen and Politan, he was unable to directly threaten ter Stegen. Calzona made two more substitutions for the final quarter when he planned to send Simeone and Raspadori into the game. Even before the substitution, however, an important moment came in the 75th minute, when the Neapolitans hit the goal with the first shot. In a personal fight, Osimhen was able to cleanly push away the defending Martinez on the edge of the penalty area, beat ter Stegen with a shot past his feet, and after the joy of the goal, Simeone replaced him on the pitch. At the beginning of the fifth minute of added time, visiting Gündogan was close to a decision, but his left-footed shot flew just wide of the post and the reigning Italian champion will take a good starting position into the rematch.
2024-02-21 21:52:24
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