Four years of waiting are over. Barcelona advance past Napoli to the quarter-finals of the Champions League

The first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Napoli and Barcelona ends in a 1-1 draw. The equation for Tuesday’s rematch was simple – win = qualification to the quarter-finals. After a battle at the top of Montjuïc, the Catalan club will play it for the first time in four years. In a 3-1 win, Cancel’s 17th minute strike proved to be the winner.

Barcelona’s defence had problems from the opening minute, especially Osimhen’s dangerous runs. However, the home team also tried to attack actively and threaten the opponent’s goal. One of them opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour of play. When 20-year-old Fermín López shot past Naples goalkeeper Alex Meret in the middle of the big white space after a back pass from Raphinho.

Two minutes later, Barça were already 2-0 up. A quick counter-attack was finished with a shot into the bar by the previously assisted Raphinha, who contributed to the second goal. João Cancelo followed up his unsuccessful attempt with a precise finish.

The visitors from the Apennine Peninsula were within striking distance of moving into the top eight teams in the millionaire competition. In the 21st minute, Andreas Christensen made his mark on the statistics. But not in the way he would have liked, when he fouled Stanislav Lobotka badly. In the end, he got out of the situation “only” with a yellow card.

The Neapolitans tried to find an answer to the goals they conceded, which they did in the 30th minute. Amir Rrahmani reduced the score to 2-1 with a shot into the bottom left corner of Marc-André ter Stegen’s net after Politan’s fine assist from the right.

Four minutes later, the Partenopei were not far from equalising. However, Di Lorenzo’s unpleasant header was deflected under the crossbar by the German Blaugranas goalkeeper. The attractive first half did not offer another change in the scoreline after that.

Lewandowski secures Barcelona promotion in the second half

Five minutes after the break, a very active Victor Osimhen demanded a penalty for Cubarsi’s tackle. However, it was not ruled illegal by head referee Danny Makkelie after consultation with VAR.

Around the 54th minute, both glovesmen intervened reliably. Ter Stegen dealt with Politano’s attempt from a standard situation, Meret with Raphinha’s finish from outside the penalty area. The Italian also succeeded against the Brazilian in the 67th minute, when he headed away his grounded direct free-kick.

After the ensuing corner, Xavi’s charges enjoyed a third goal, but not for long. The reason was that Yamal delivered the ball into the net from an offside position in the small area. Although Napoli needed to create an offensive advantage as the end approached, they also had to face frequent attacking efforts from their opponents.

With ten minutes left in regulation time, Lindstrøm headed just wide of the Spanish champion’s goal. Otherwise, Napoli did not create the necessary crushing final pressure. And in the 83rd minute, Robert Lewandowski made coach Francesco Calzona’s team even sadder.

After a neat combination between Gündoğan and Roberto, the Polish cannonballer cleared the ball into the open goal area and set the final score at 3-1. Neither Oliver’s shot, which was stopped by the crossbar in the 89th minute. Nor Kvaracchelij’s shot on the ground in stoppage time made any difference.

Barcelona will be in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since the 2019/2020 season. Back then, during the coronavirus pandemic, the Catalans suffered one of their heaviest defeats in history when they lost to Bayern Munich 2-8 in Lisbon. They will certainly want to forgive themselves for such a debacle this time.

Source: UEFA, Premier Sport 2