BARCELONA.- Barcelona beat Naples 3-1 this Tuesday in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, qualifying for the next phase of the continental tournament for the first time since 2020.
Fermín put the Blaugrana team ahead (15) and Joao Cancelo extended the score (17), before Amir Rrahmani pulled one back for Naples (30) and Robert Lewandowski made it 3-1 (83), leaving the tie 4-2 in favor of the Catalans.
Barcelona will be in the Champions League quarterfinals again four years later, while Naples was not only eliminated but also lost its chances of being in the Club World Cup.
The Barça team ended up winning a hard-fought match, in which young Barça jewels such as Pau Cubarsí, Fermín and Lamine Yamal once again shone to boost the locals.
Yamal was once again a nightmare on the right wing for the Naples defense, while Cubarsí, at 17 years old, was a real wall in the Barça defense, who would end up being voted best player of the match.
Barcelona started with great intensity, pressing high and pushing Napoli, who sought to surprise with long balls behind the local defenders where Victor Osimhen was trying to reach.
The Blaugranas were a steamroller during the first 20 minutes, in which Fermín warned with a shot that was too cross (9) and a lob that was too high before the departure of goalkeeper Alex Meret (13).
The local harassment was rewarded when Raphinha went to the baseline to leave a ball behind, where Fermín appeared to make it 1-0 (15).
Just two minutes later, Raphinha hit the post, but the rebound was picked up by Joao Cancelo to shoot and make it 2-0 (17).
Shock for Barcelona:
Barcelona dominated and had the match under control, but the goal from Naples came that changed the pattern of the match.
Matteo Politano reached almost the baseline and crossed into the area where Rrahmani arrived to finish into the back of the Barça goal (30).
The goal spurred Napoli who began to arrive more driven by the wings on their sides.
The Barça goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen took a providential hand to a header from Giovanni di Lorenzo who had the tie in his hands (34).
Naples took advantage of the fact that Barcelona abandoned its initial momentum to get closer to Ter Stegen’s domain with more danger and put balls into the area from the wings.
Source: AFP
