Napoli and Barcelona played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Tuesday night. The hosts came from behind to equalize through Victor Osimhen, who cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s opener for the visitors.
The game was a tense and tactical affair, with both teams struggling to create clear-cut chances in the first half. Napoli defended well and tried to hit Barcelona on the counter-attack, while Barcelona dominated possession and looked for openings in the Napoli backline.
The deadlock was broken in the 60th minute, when Pedri played a brilliant through ball to Lewandowski, who controlled it with his chest and fired a low shot past Alex Meret in the Napoli goal. It was the Polish striker’s 93rd goal in the Champions League, putting him third in the all-time scoring list behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Napoli show character and resilience to level the score
Napoli did not give up and responded well to going behind. They increased their intensity and pressed Barcelona higher up the pitch, forcing them into mistakes. They also brought on some fresh legs, with Jens Cajuste and Giovanni Simeone replacing Stanislav Lobotka and Matteo Politano.
Their efforts paid off in the 75th minute, when Frank Zambo Anguissa played a clever pass to Osimhen, who ran past Ronald Araujo and slotted the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal. It was the Nigerian forward’s first goal in the Champions League and a vital one for his team.
Barcelona hold on to secure a valuable away goal
Barcelona were rattled by Napoli’s equalizer and looked vulnerable in the final stages of the game. They lost İlkay Gündoğan to injury and had to replace him with Sergi Roberto. They also had to deal with some nervy moments in their own box, as Napoli pushed for a winner.
However, they managed to hold on and secure a 1-1 draw, which gives them a slight advantage ahead of the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 12. They will hope to have some of their injured players back by then, such as Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Aguero.
Key statistics and facts from the game
- Napoli and Barcelona met for the fourth time in the Champions League, with each team winning one, drawing one and losing one of their previous encounters.
- Napoli have never reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while Barcelona have done so in 13 of the last 14 seasons.
- Lewandowski scored his 93rd goal in the Champions League, moving past Raul Gonzalez (71) and Karim Benzema (71) in the all-time scoring list. He is now only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (135) and Lionel Messi (120).
- Osimhen scored his first goal in the Champions League, becoming the first Nigerian player to score in the knockout stages of the competition since Obafemi Martins for Inter Milan in 2009.
- Pedri registered his third assist in the Champions League this season, the most by any Barcelona player. He also completed 97% of his passes, the highest accuracy by any player on the pitch.
