Napoli-Barcelona 1-1 in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. NEWS
Calzona’s Napoli doesn’t perform a miracle. With Barcelona it ends in a draw (1-1) and the answer to qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals is postponed to the return match. The Azzurri show no progress compared to what they showed in the championship against Genoa and this was to be expected, given that the new coach only met a large part of the team yesterday, a few hours before the match against the Spaniards. The Azzurri appear fearful and devoid of ideas and if Barcelona, which exercises a clear and constant dominance in play, fails to break through, this depends more on the Blaugrana’s lack of talent than on Napoli’s tactical organization. In the first 20′ Barcelona controlled the game at will and the ball remained constantly in Napoli’s half of the field. The Spaniards, however, were unable to materialize the clear superiority they exercised in the middle of the pitch and only produced two clear scoring chances, both of which were thwarted by Meret who in the 22nd minute deflected a poisonous deflection from Lewandowski with his foot and a minute later launched himself into diving to deflect Gundogan’s powerful long-range shot. Napoli appears intimidated and disoriented. At the start of the action the Azzurri encounter great difficulty even in leaving their own penalty area, also because the Barca midfielders exercise ferocious man-marking on the opposite sides in the Napoli lineup.
Only towards the half hour mark was there a rebalancing of the initiatives of the two teams and the Azzurri managed to move the center of gravity of the game further forward. Napoli, however, is never able to create danger for Xavi’s team and suffers above all from the decisive attitude of the Spanish defense who constantly and with great timing apply the offside tactic which confuses their ideas and forces them too often to use retro passes that inevitably slow down the action and make it predictable.
In the second half the script of the match did not change, at least until the Spaniards found the opening goal. It’s the 15th minute when Pedri serves Lewandowski who calmly turns, avoids Di Lorenzo and Juan Jesus and beats Meret with a low shot. Only at this point does Napoli decide to target the opponent’s penalty area with more determination. The turning point of the match comes in the 30th minute. Anguissa serves Osimhen, who was about to be replaced, and the Nigerian gets rid of Martinez and scores with a low shot. The arrivals of Traorè, Lindstrom, Simeone and Raspadori give freshness and vitality to Calzona’s team which persistently tries to win the match. Napoli’s attackers fail to produce big chances but at least the spirit seems to be the right one, much more combative and decisive than we had seen up to that moment. It ends 1-1 and the result is fair all things considered. In Barcelona the fans hope that with the Calzona treatment a different Napoli will arrive that can compete for qualification on equal terms with the Catalans.
At 75′ NAPLES – Barcelona 1-1! Goal by Victor Osimhen. The striker takes advantage of an error by Martinez, who slips into the area, and finishes coolly to beat Ter Stegen.
At 60′ Napoli – BARCELONA 0-1! Goal by Robert Lewandowski. The striker receives Pedri in the area, gets rid of Di Lorenzo and shoots to the near post where Meret cannot reach.
The formations
NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret – Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Olivera – Anguissa, Lobotka, Cajuste – Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
Available to NAPLES: Contini, Gollini, Natan, Mario Rui, Traoré, Simeone, Lindstrom, Mazzocchi, Ostigard, Raspadori.
BARCELONA: (4-3-3)Ter Stegen – Koundé, Araujo, Iñigo Martinez, Cancelo – Gundogan, Christensen, de Jong – Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski, Pedri.
At BARCELONA’s disposal: Pena, Astralaga, Raphinha, Joao Felix, Vitor Roque, Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Casado, Lopez, Cubarsi, Guiu, Fort.
De Laurentiis at the UEFA lunch with Hamsik
Marek Hamsik was also among the guests at the usual UEFA lunch that precedes the Champions League matches with the managers of Napoli and Barcelona. In the tweet published by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis we see the former Italian midfielder between De Laurentiis himself and the president of the Spanish team Joan Laporta. “Today’s UEFA lunch at Palazzo Petrucci – reads the tweet from the Italian patron – with guests enchanted by the Neapolitan panorama. Forza Napoli always”. In recent days, with the arrival of Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona on the Napoli bench, there has been talk of the possibility of Hamsik returning to Naples as part of Calzona’s staff. Hypothesis immediately rejected by the sender by the person concerned but which could become relevant again in the next few days. Yesterday Calzona himself, pressed by the fans, responded with a “let’s see” to the hypothesis of the involvement of the former Slovakian midfielder, captain of Napoli for years and considered by many to be a symbol of the Italian club.
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