Napoli vs Barcelona, Champions League: Final Score 1-1, Barça play well in Naples as hard-fought first leg ends in draw

Barcelona have begun their journey in the Champions League knockout stages with a solid result on the road thanks to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Napoli at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie. Barça were the better team for most of the night and earned a one-goal lead through solid attacking play, but one poor defensive moment cost them a victory and the tie is still wide open ahead of the second leg in three weeks.

FIRST HALF

Barça made a strong start on the road, quickly establishing themselves in the Napoli half and moving the ball well between the lines to find spaces inside the hosts’ backline. Lamine Yamal and Ilkay Gündogan were the biggest threats early, and when Pedri and Robert Lewandowski got more involved the Blaugrana became even more dangerous up front.

Yamal was the first to test Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret with a shot from distance, then Lewandowski had a very good chance inside the area and Gündogan fired a rocket from the edge of the box that would have found the top corner, but Meret made three excellent saves to deny the opening goal.

The first 30 minutes belonged to Barça but the Catalans couldn’t find the breakthrough, and Napoli finally managed to get forward and have more of the ball towards the end of the half. The hosts never came close to making Marc-André ter Stegen work, however, and Ronald Araujo almost single-handedly neutralized the threat of Victor Osimhen while Jules Kounde did a solid job defending Kvicha Kvaratskhelia on the wing.

The first half came to an end without a goal but Barça would have been happy with their work in the opening frame, but they needed to keep up the good work and be more clinical to find a winner in the final 45 minutes.

SECOND HALF

Barça once again started the second half with full control of the ball and forcing Napoli to defend deep inside their half, and Yamal and Gündogan combined early to require another save by Meret as the Catalans continued to create danger.

And right at the hour mark the visitors finally got the goal they deserved: a long passing sequence ended with an outrageous assist by Pedri through the defender’s legs and a great finish by Lewandowski, as the Pole found space inside the box and fired a powerful low shot into the bottom corner to put the away team in front with 30 minutes to go.

Napoli surprisingly showed very little urgency after conceding the opener and didn’t make a serious effort to commit bodies forward and created very little trouble for the Barça defense, and the Blaugrana continued to control the ball and seemingly cruise towards the finish.

But with 15 minutes remaining came an unlikely equalizer against the run of play as Zambo Anguissa played a pass through to Victor Osimhen inside the box, and the Nigerian striker outmuscled Iñigo Martínez before turning and finding the bottom corner.

Barça were heavily affected by Napoli’s goal and could no longer control possession, easily losing the ball in midfield and allowing the hosts to send more bodies forward and create danger with crosses into the box.

Xavi Hernández brought Raphinha and João Félix off the bench looking for a spark in attack to create a late chance for a winner, but the Blaugrana were unable to break down the Napoli defense and the final whistle came to end the first leg in a draw.

Barça played well enough and created enough chances to score more than just one goal, and the result is not totally satisfying given the fact Napoli scored with pretty much their only chance of the entire game. But a draw away in the Champions League knockout stages is never a bad result, and the performance was strong and mature enough to give reason for encouragement ahead of the second leg.

Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Olivera; Anguisa, Lobotka, Cajuste (Traorè 68’); Politano, Osmihen (Simeone 77’), Kvaratskhelia (Lindstrom 68’)

Goal: Osimhen (75’)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Iñigo, Cancelo; Christensen (Romeu 86’), De Jong; Yamal (Raphinha 80’), Gündogan, Pedri (Félix 86’); Lewandowski

Goal: Lewandowski (60’)