Barcelona enter tonight’s last 16 Champions League tie against Napoli amid numerous off-the-pitch distractions. The La Liga champions are being forced to contend with fan unrest with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu booed by those at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
With their fragile away form in Europe and scars from last season’s capitulation away at Liverpool, Barcelona are contending with a lot of pressure.
Lionel Messi is of course constantly compared to Diego Maradona, with tonight’s game at the former home of the former World Cup winner, adding some extra spice to the contest. Follow live updates below:
What a game to equal the all-time scoring record for the club in, and what a goal to do it with! That’s 121 goals for Napoli for the Belgian forward, who collected a low pass on the left side of the area, cut inside and blasted one into the top corner past a stranded ter Stegen.
26′ – Messi surges forward after a transition and it’s a three-on-three momentarily, but Messi delays his pass to Griezmann and Napoli get bodies back to clear.
24′ – The home crowd still making plenty of noise, but there haven’t really been any clear chances for them to get excited about. It’s still early, but would a goalless draw be good for them to take to Barcelona? It’s certainly a safety-first approach so far.
20′ – Barca with lots of possession and no penetration. Napoli’s shape is excellent and they are working hard to turn Barca back at every turn. How long can they keep it up?
16′ – Big chance on the break for Napoli but Callejon’s attempted cross flicks off Umtiti and deflects to ter Stegen, with Zielinski in support and unmarked centrally.
14′ – A first really good passing move from Napoli, moving it from right-back to left wing and almost getting Insigne in – but Pique is across to slide it clear. Rakitic is irked that a throw-in wasn’t given about 30 seconds earlier when it appeared the ball had crossed the line.
10′ – Callejon has a strike on the angle, but ter Stegen saves and he was offside anyway. Napoli are deep and compact defensively, but have got players forward well so far on the break.
7′ – Worth noting that neither manager has actually coached a single game in the Champions League before tonight. In and of itself that’s not quite so unusual, but given it’s a last 16 game, this is a first time that two untested bosses are facing off in the knockout stage.
4′ – A few jeers for Barcelona from the home fans, irritated at their team being unable to get on the ball. All the time in the world for the team in yellow in their own half, but Messi’s angled pass is overhit.
2′ – Early possession for the away team, with Gattuso’s side happy too sit deep and in shape. A couple of early probes down the flanks show where Barcelona’s attackers are lining up: Messi in off the right, Griezmann from the left, Vidal central behind the two and dovetailing with the No. 10.
The excitement is clear inside the Stadio San Paolo. No Koulibaly for Napoli remember, while Milik is left on the bench. We are almost ready to go.
We are just under ten minutes from the action getting underway in the Diego Maradona derby! Can we call it that? Why not.
Dries Mertens sits on the verge of Napoli history: he needs one goal to equal Marek Hamsik’s goalscoring record of 121 for the club, and two to take the all-time lead.
Back in October the Belgian suggested he hoped to break the record by Christmas…he’s still waiting, but is so close now.
Strange as it might seem, Messi isn’t Barcelona’s top scorer in Europe this season: that honour belongs to Luis Suarez, for now at least.
The Uruguayan isn’t likely to feature much again this season, but he has three strikes to Messi’s two. Ansu Fati, Griezmann and the now-departed Carles Perez are the other scorers in the Champions League with just one apiece.
No Suarez, no Perez; also no full-back pair Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto, no perennially injured Ousmane Dembele and no new signing Martin Braithwaite either, who is ineligible.
ONES TO WATCH
For Barca…well, we know about Messi, right? He hit four goals against Eibar at the weekend and assisted six more in the three games prior to that. Pretty standard.
Aside from the No. 10, Arturo Vidal has been good when pushed into the attacking line, Nelson Semedo has been a constant source of chances from right-back and Antoine Griezmann, even with a real lack of goals, has been working hard and getting into good positions. Just needs to work on that finishing.
As for Barcelona, it’s five wins in the last six for them, with a straight-forward 5-0 hammering of Eibar their weekend preparation.
Quique Setien’s side are top of LaLiga, two points clear of Real Madrid, with El Clasico coming up at the weekend.
Napoli suffered a mid-season slump and replaced Carlo Ancelotti with Gennaro Gattuso. It hasn’t been plain sailing, but they appear back on the right path; a 2-1 win over Brescia at the weekend was a sixth win in seven in all competitions and lifted Napoli back up to sixth in Serie A.
Match preview
What time is Napoli vs Barcelona?
The match kicks off at 8pm GMT (9pm local time) at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples.
How can I watch on TV?
Yes, you can watch the game live on BT Sport 3 with coverage beginning at 7:15pm.
Can I stream it online?
Yes, BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match online via the video player and the BT Sport app.
Prediction
Lionel Messi is almost destined to score at the house that Diego Maradona helped build, but their lack of stability off the pitch may creep into their game on it when Napoli pick up momentum. Not to mention their track record of collapsing somewhat in away knockout ties. Gennaro Gattuso will inject the right amount of motivation into his side on this big night in Naples and could well pinch a slender 2-1 lead heading into the second leg.
