On Tuesday, Barcelona defeated Napoli 3-1 in the second leg of their Round of 16 match at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium, 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.
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 provided an assist, and Amir Rahmani scored a rare goal after making an unexpected run from center back and finding the bottom corner to tie the score.
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 provided an assist, and Amir Rahmani scored a rare goal after making an unexpected run from center back and finding the bottom corner to tie the score.
SECOND HALF
It was tight at the beginning of the last quarter as Barça struggled to hold the ball for long periods 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.