Barcelona 3-1 (4-2 on agg.) Napoli
Napoli gave it a damn good go. You would expect that of any team managed by Gennaro Gattuso!
But in the end, the fact this tie was one which Barcelona simply had to win – their fate in this competition could effectively save their season – and the fact they possess one of the greatest players the game has ever seen, showed.
Three goals inside 36 first-half minutes did the damage and so Barcelona extended to 36 matches a record of unbeaten home Champions League home matches.
Highlights of the game
Could it have been different? Well, yes it could.
Inside 90 seconds, Dries Mertens (chasing his seventh Champions League goal of the campaign) hit the post whereas a few inches difference would have given Napoli a priceless away goal.
Less than 10 minutes later, Clement Lenglet headed in Ivan Rakitic’s corner and Barca had a lead they never relinquished.
Home coach Quique Setien said before the match that he wasn’t worried about his future and had not even thought about the possibility of being sacked should Barcelona fail to progress to the final eight in Portugal.
He had even more reason to smile when his mercurial captain Lionel Messi doubled his side’s advantage in style.
It was a magic moment from the Argentine wonder who wove his way through three Napoli defenders, despite ending up on his hands and knees en route, before dispatching a fine strike.
After getting back to his feet to shoot, Messi managed to whip his shot around Kostas Manolas and into the far side of David Ospina’s goal.
It was Manolas who scored Roma’s decisive third goal in a remarkable comeback victory against Barcelona in the 2018 quarter-finals but from that moment, there was never going to be a repeat.
It was also one of the true Champions League 2020 highlights as all 11 home players touched the ball in the build-up to the goal.
Messi actually thought he had further added to his tally of 115 Champions League goals in 142 games just seven minutes later, only for a lengthy VAR review to deem he had handled the ball.
VAR backed the hosts on the stroke of half-time, however, when Kalidou Koulibaly brought down Messi and Luis Suarez stepped up to convert the penalty.
Napoli, who went to extreme measures to protect their squad and staff in Barcelona – Catalunya is one of the worst-affected areas by the Covid-19 pandemic – must have been shellshocked after contributing to a closely contested first half.
Seconds later, they had a glimmer of hope as Rakitic conceded a penalty for a foul on Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne – who had faced a race against the clock to make the match after sustaining an adductor injury in last weekend’s success over Lazio – converted from 12 yards.
Had Napoli substitute Arkadiusz Milik not seen a late header ruled out for offside, there could have been a frantic finish but, for all of Napoli’s spirit, the gap was just too much.
Key statistics
Messi has now scored 27 goals at this stage of the competition with Napoli the 13th side he’s netted against in the last 16.
It was also the first time he has scored against the Partenopei which means he has scored against 35 different clubs in the Champions League, two more than the next best, Cristiano Ronaldo.
This was Messi’s 142nd Champions League appearance and he is now joint fourth with Raúl González in the all-time list.
Napoli have lost all three of their Champions League last 16 ties – the previous two times the team that knocked them out went on to lift the trophy, Chelsea in 2012 and Real Madrid in 2017.
Insigne’s penalty means he has become the first Italian player to score at least once against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and against Barca in the Nou Camp.
Barcelona have become the first team to reach eight successive Champions League quarter-finals.
Suarez’s last 16 Champions League goals have come at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 16 home fixtures against Italian sides, winning 13, since losing 2-1 to Juventus in the 2003 quarter-final second leg.
Barca’s 36-match unbeaten home record in the competition began in September 2013 (won 32, drawn four); the 5-1 defeat of Lyon in last season’s round-of-16 second leg eclipsed the previous competition record of 29 set by Bayern Munich between March 1998 and April 2002.
What’s next?
It’s quarter-final time and Bayern Munch await Barca in Lisbon next Friday (August 14) for what should be a one-legged Champions League cracker.
The SBOBET Champions League 2020 betting odds will also make fascinating reading.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
