Barcelona defeated Napoli 3-1 in the second leg of their Round of 16 match at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Tuesday, securing their spot in the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in four years. Barça had an incredible start to the match, suffered terribly for the next forty-five minutes, but came through with a well-earned win to advance to the Last Eight of Europe's premier championship.
FIRST HALF
The first 20 minutes of the first half were, in a word, flawless. Barça started the game on the front foot, pressing high up the pitch with extraordinary intensity to win the ball back and prevent Napoli from having any joy with it. They did this by passing the ball quickly and incisively through the lines and by adopting a fierce mentality off the ball.
In addition to dominating the game, Barça also produced four excellent opportunities: After two excellent passes 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 López plenty of time and space to finish and give Barça the lead. Fermín López missed the first two, but the third time proved to be lucky for the young midfielder.
From the start, Napoli launched an attack and almost created a chance down the left wing, but Barça's defense handled the situation and the counterattack resulted in the second goal and fourth chance: Lamine Yamal found Raphinha on the run, but the Brazilian's powerful shot struck the inside of the post. João Cancelo was first to the rebound, passing the ball into an open net and doubling the Blaugrana lead.
The home team's amazing start to the match helped calm both the players' and the supporters' concerns. The Catalans chose to play it safe and let Napoli have more possession of the ball while still applying pressure to force errors and create additional opportunities.
However, Barça retreated too much and lost the intensity they had displayed in the first 20 minutes, and they paid for it when Napoli executed a nice passing sequence down the right wing, Matteo Politano providing an assist, and Amir Rrahmani scoring a rare goal after making an unexpected run from center back and finding the bottom corner to tie the score.
In the minutes that followed the goal, Napoli dominated play and their captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo came dangerously close to equalizing with a header that Marc-André ter Stegen had to make a spectacular save to prevent. Barça appeared prepared to give up their lead as the half came to a finish, having completely lost the advantage and control of the opening minutes of the game.
However, the Catalans did a good job regaining some of the initiative and halting Napoli's progress, and by halftime, they were still ahead. At the interval, the home team was winning, but Napoli was still very much in the game and the second half was going to be intense.
SECOND HALF
It was tight at the beginning of the last quarter as Barça struggled to hold the ball for long periods of time and could not execute their press with the same intensity and precision, which allowed Napoli to attack in behind more openings. Although Pau Cubarsí and Ronald Araujo made a few crucial saves against Victor Osimhen, the Catalans were a bit overextended as the hour approached.
Sensing problems in the defense, Xavi Hernández substituted Andreas Christensen (who had received a yellow card) and Fermín López (who was beginning to look very tired) with Sergi Roberto and Oriol Romeu in an attempt to shore things up in midfield. In an instant, Napoli head coach Francesco Calzona made two replacements of his own, hoping to give the wings some new life and increase the threat to a weak Barça defense.
Early on, Barça's adjustments had a good effect on the squad. With a more defensive midfield configuration, the Catalans were able to recover possession of the ball and reduce the game's pace, which forced Napoli to withdraw and defend their box for extended periods of time for the first time in the half. Yamal gave the Blaugrana their second goal back, but the goal was disallowed because the young player was offside.
After an hour, Lamine really came into his own, unleashing a barrage of talent and aggressive dribbling to wreak havoc on Napoli's left flank. Yamal was involved in every one of Barça's most successful attacking moments. As the game entered its last fifteen minutes, the Blaugrana were once again the better team on the field, but a third goal was still required for them to qualify.
Yamal lost a great opportunity to score that third goal, and Barça nearly paid for it right away in the eighty-first minute when Jesper Lindstrom was left alone inside the six-yard box by Mathías Olivera's cross. However, Lindstrom's header sailed mysteriously wide, and the Catalans escaped with a massive win.
With seven minutes remaining, captain Roberto once again made a huge impact on the European stage, going on a fantastic solo run from left to center, making a beautiful one-two with Ilkay Gündogan at the edge of the box, and setting up Robert Lewandowski for the easiest tap-in to restore Barça's goal lead. Xavi looked to his bench for help getting the crucial third goal as João Félix replaced Raphinha.
While Barça managed to avoid giving up a second goal and the final whistle sent them to the quarterfinals, there were a few concerns in the last minutes as Napoli attempted everything to pull off a last-minute miracle.
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Barça overcame a very challenging stretch in the middle of the game thanks to their outstanding start and great finish, and they fully deserved the win and a trip to the next round. For the most of the evening, nearly every player gave a spectacular performance, and Xavi made the appropriate decisions on the lineup and substitutions. A real team victory and, for once, a joyous evening in Europe.
Well done, boys!
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha (Félix 80'); Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo; Fermín (Roberto 61'), Christensen (Romeu 61'), Gündogan
Goals: Lewandowski (83'), Cancelo (17'), and Fermín (15').
In Napoli, Politano (Lindstrom 64'), Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia (Ngonge 90+3'); Anguissa, Lobotka, Traorè (Raspadori 78'); Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Rui (Olivera 64');
Goals: Rrahmani (30’)
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