Barcelona advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in four years, defeating Napoli 3-1 in the second leg of their Round of 16 match at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night. Barça had a fantastic start, suffered terribly for the next 45 minutes of play, but finished strong to gain a well-deserved victory and advance to the Last Eight of Europe’s best championship.
FIRST HALF
The first 20 minutes of the game were, in a word, perfect: Barça started the game on the front foot, with quick, incisive passes through the lines and a ferocious attitude without the ball, pressing high up the pitch with exceptional intensity to win the ball back and prevent Napoli from having any joy on the ball.
In addition to their dominance of the game, Barcelona produced four great chances: Fermín López missed the first two, but the third time was the charm for the young midfielder. After an excellent passing sequence down the left wing, a through ball from João Cancelo found Raphinha, who crossed it back to the middle where Robert Lewandowski took out two defenders with a great dummy, giving Fermín plenty of time and space to finish right and give Barça the lead.
Barça’s defense thwarted Napoli’s initial attack down the left wing, resulting in a counter-attack that resulted in the Blaugrana’s second goal. Lamine Yamal found Raphinha on the run, who hit the inside of the post with a powerful shot. João Cancelo was quick to the rebound and doubled the Blaugrana’s lead.
The home side had a truly excellent start to the game, which helped calm the nerves of the players and the spectators, and the Catalans decided not to take too many risks, allowing Napoli more of the ball while still pressing high to force mistakes and create more chances.
But Barça fell too far behind and lost the intensity shown in the first 20 minutes, and they paid the price when Napoli’s nice passing sequence down the right wing resulted in an assist by Matteo Politano and a rare goal by Amir Rrahmani, who made a surprising run from center-back and found the bottom corner to put the visitors back in the game and tie.
In the minutes following the goal, Napoli seized complete control of the game, and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo nearly equalized with a header that Marc-André ter Stegen saved with his life. Barça had completely lost its edge and domination in the early stages of the game, and the Catalans appeared poised to squander their lead before the end of the session.
However, the Catalans did an excellent job of regaining control and restraining Napoli’s momentum, and they were able to maintain their lead at halftime. The home club was leading at the halftime, but Napoli was still in contention, setting up a tight second half.
Second half
The start of the final quarter was stressful, with Barça failing to keep possession of the ball for long stretches and not executing their press with the same intensity and attention to detail, allowing Napoli to attack from behind. Ronald Araujo and Pau Cubarsí made vital contributions against Victor Osimhen, but the Catalans appeared overextended by the hour mark.
Xavi Hernández addressed defensive concerns by bringing in Sergi Roberto and Oriol Romeu to replace Fermín López and Andreas Christensen, who were fatigued and had a yellow card. Napoli coach Francesco Calzona immediately responded with two replacements of his own, hoping to give some fresh legs to the wings and increase the danger to a vulnerable Barça defense.
Barça’s substitutions had an immediate good influence on the squad, as a more defensive midfield setup allowed the Catalans to reclaim ball possession and slow down the game’s speed, forcing Napoli to retreat and defend their box for the first time in the half. Yamal almost restored Barcelona’s two-goal lead, but the youngster was offside, and the goal was disallowed.
Lamine fully came to life around the hour mark, using his abilities and aggressive dribbling to cause havoc on the left side of Napoli’s defense, and Yamal played a role in all of Barça’s greatest attacking moments. The Blaugrana were once again the superior team on the field as we approached the last 15 minutes, but they still needed a third goal to secure qualification.
In the 80th minute, Mathías Olivera’s pass found Jesper Lindstrom alone within the six-yard box, but his header sailed wide. Yamal squandered a wonderful opportunity to score the third goal, and Barça just avoided a severe setback.
Xavi looked to his bench for help getting the all-important third goal as João Félix replaced Raphinha, but it was another substitute who decided the game: captain Roberto. He went on a fabulous solo run from left to center, made a gorgeous one-two with Ilkay Gündogan at the edge of the box, and gave Robert Lewandowski the easiest tap-in to restore Barça’s goal lead with seven minutes to go.
There were a few worries in the last minutes as Napoli attempted everything to pull off a late miracle, but Barça avoided surrendering a second goal before the final whistle, sending them to the quarter-finals.
Barça’s fantastic start and strong finish helped them overcome a difficult stretch in the middle of the game, and they deserved to win and go to the next round. Xavi made the appropriate team selections and replacements, and practically every player performed admirably for the majority of the night. A true team victory, and a pleasant night in Europe for a change.
Well done, lads!
One thought on “Barcelona against Napoli, Champions League: Final Score 3-1, Barça gain hard-fought win at home, move to quarter-finals”