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Barcelona safely qualified for their first Champions League quarter-final in four years thanks to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Napoli in the second leg of their round of 16 tie at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night. Barça had a phenomenal start, suffered greatly during the next 45 minutes of action, but finished the match strong to achieve a well-deserved victory and advance to the round of 16 of Europe’s top competition.
FIRST HALF
The first 20 minutes of the first half were, in short, perfect: Barça were sensational to start the game, playing on the front foot, with quick, incisive passes between the lines and a ferocious attitude without the ball to press high. with exceptional intensity to recover the ball and prevent Napoli from having fun with the ball.
And in addition to controlling the match, Barça created four great chances: Fermín López missed the first two, but the third was the charm for the young midfielder: after an excellent sequence of passes on the left wing, a deep pass from João Cancelo He found Raphinha, who crossed towards the center where Robert Lewandowski eliminated two defenders with a great dummy and gave Fermín a lot of time and space to finish well and give Barça the advantage.
Napoli attacked from the kick-off and were about to create a chance on the left wing, but the Barça defense knew how to solve the problem and the counterattack led to the fourth chance and the second goal: Lamine Yamal found Raphinha on the run and the Brazilian finished off. inside the post with a powerful shot, and João Cancelo was quicker on the rebound to pass the ball into the open goal and bend the ball. blaugrana lead.
It was a really fantastic start to the game from the home team which helped calm the nerves of the team and the crowd, and the Catalans decided not to take too many risks and felt comfortable letting Napoli have more possession of the ball as they continued to press high to force mistakes and create more opportunities.
But Barça fell back too much and lost the intensity shown in the first 20 minutes, and paid for it when a good sequence of passes on the Napoli right wing ended with an assist from Matteo Politano and a rare goal from Amir Rrahmani, who made a run. surprising center back and found the bottom corner to bring the visitors back into the game and tie it up.
Napoli had complete control of the action in the minutes after the goal, and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo almost scored the equalizer with a header that required a great save from Marc-André ter Stegen. Barça had completely lost the advantage and control of the first moments of the match, and the Catalans seemed ready to give up their advantage towards the end of the period.
But the Catalans did a solid job of regaining some control and stopping Napoli’s momentum, and they managed to maintain their lead as we reached halftime. The home team was qualifying at half-time, but Napoli was still alive and preparing for a very tense second half.
SECOND HALF
The start of the final period was really tense, with Barça unable to keep the ball for long periods and not executing their pressing with the same intensity and attention to detail, which created more space for Napoli to attack from behind. Ronald Araujo and Pau Cubarsí made a couple of key interventions against Victor Osimhen, but the Catalans looked too stretched when we reached the hour mark.
Xavi Hernández perceived the problems in the defensive structure and tried to shore up the midfield with Sergi Roberto and Oriol Romeu replacing Fermín López (who was beginning to look very tired) and Andreas Christensen (who had a yellow card). Napoli coach Francesco Calzona responded instantly with two substitutions, looking to add some fresh legs to the wings and bring more danger to a vulnerable Barça defence.
Barça’s changes had a positive impact on the team from the beginning, as a more defensive midfield configuration allowed the Catalans to regain control of the ball and slow down the pace of the game, forcing Napoli to withdraw and defend their area for long stretches during the first game. time in half. He blaugrana Yamal almost regained the two-goal lead, but the youngster was offside and the goal was disallowed.
Lamine really came to life after the hour, using his skills and aggressive dribbling to create havoc on the left side of Napoli’s defence, and Barça’s best moments in attack involved Yamal in some capacity. He blaugrana They were once again superior on the field as we reached the final 15 minutes, but still needed a third goal to secure qualification.
Yamal missed a golden opportunity to score that third goal, and Barça almost paid for it on the spot in the 80th minute when Mathías Olivera’s cross found Jesper Lindstrom alone inside the six-yard box, but his header went inexplicably wide and the Catalans dodged. an important bullet.
Xavi looked to his bench for help to score the important third goal when João Félix replaced Raphinha, but it was another substitute who decided the match: captain Roberto, once again, had a great performance on the European stage by making a fabulous run in alone from left to center, he made a magnificent one-two with Ilkay Gündogan on the edge of the area and gave Robert Lewandowski the easiest touch to regain Barça’s goal advantage with seven minutes remaining.
The last minutes had a couple of scares, Napoli tried everything to achieve the late miracle, but Barça avoided conceding the second goal and the final whistle came that sent them to the quarterfinals.
The spectacular start and strong finish helped Barça overcome a very difficult stretch in the middle of the match and they absolutely deserved the victory and a place in the next round. Xavi made the right team selection and substitutions, and almost every player performed at a high level for most of the night. A real team victory and, for a change, a happy night in Europe.
Well done guys!
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo; Fermín (Roberto 61′), Christensen (Romeu 61′), Gündogan; Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha (Félix 80′)
Goals: Fermín (15′), Cancelo (17′), Lewandowski (83′)
Naples: Méret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesús, Rui (Olivera 64′); Anguissa, Lobotka, Traorè (Raspadori 78′); Politano (Lindstrom 64′), Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia (Ngonge 90+3′)
Goals: Rrahmani (30′)