The guns of Napoli and Barcelona both scored and goals from Viktor Osimen and Robert Lewandowski made it 1-1 in their Champions League last 16 first leg.
Napoli and Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in a split Champions League last 16 first leg.
Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Barcelona, but Victor Osimen replied for the Neapolitans as Francesco Calzona made his bench debut.
The “Partenopei” lined up not only with a new coach, not only with a new formation (albeit established earlier), but also with a new… striker for 2024, after Osimen wore their shirt for the first time for the year. Xavi, for his part, did not reserve any surprises in the eleven, from which once again a multitude of players were absent due to injuries.
The Catalans took possession of the ball from the start and did not allow Napoli to do anything on the pitch for 20 minutes. The exception was Alex Merrett who had to stop Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Guidogan to keep a clean sheet.
From halfway through the 1st half, the home side came out of defence, mostly keeping the ball, but failed to find any noteworthy moment in the game.
In the 2nd half, the Italians entered the pitch much stronger and started to threaten with Osimen, without creating the big chance. None of the two coaches rushed with their changes and the justification was Xavi’s.
In the 60th minute, Robert Lewandowski became the first Barcelona player to score in a Champions League knockout since March 2021 and Lionel Messi (in a match where his partner, Lamine Yamal, became the youngest player in knockout history out of the institution at the age of 16 years and 223 days).
Calzona started the changes first, withdrew Hvitsa Kvaratshelias and finally succeeded. In the 75th minute, Osimen equalized for the Neapolitans at 1-1 before he was also withdrawn from the game.
Xavi’s succession of changes brought Rafinha, Oriol Romeo and Joao Felix onto the pitch, but the momentum was with the Italian champions who kept the game at the Blaugrana’s home ground but were unable to find the breakthrough goal.
- NAPOLI: Meret, Di Lorenzo, Rahmani, Jesus, Olivera, Zambo Angisa, Lobotka, Kazist (68′ Traore), Politano (77′ Raspadori), Osimen (77′ Simeone), Kvarachelia (68′ Lindström)
- BARCELONA: Ter Stegen, Coute, Araujo, Martinez, Cancelo, De Jong, Christensen (86′ Romeo), Guidogan, Yamal (80′ Rafinha), Lewandowski, Pedri (87′ Felix)
Round of 16 results
FIRST GAMES
- Copenhagen – Manchester City 1-3 (34′ Matson / 11′ De Bruyne, 45+1′ Silva, 90+3′ Foden)
- Leipzig – Real 0-1 (49′ Diath)
- Paris – Real Sociedad 2-0 (58′ Mbappe, 70′ Barcola)
- Lazio – Bayern 1-0 (69′ penalty Immobile)
- Inter – Atletico 1-0 (79′ Arnautovic)
- Eindhoven – Dortmund 1-1 (56′ pen. De Jong – 24′ Mullen)
- Napoli – Barcelona 1-1 (75′ Osimen / 60′ Lewandowski)
- Porto – Arsenal 1-0 (90+4′ Galeno)
The highlights
Copenhagen – Manchester City 1-3
Leipzig – Real 0-1
Paris – Real Sociedad 2-0
Lazio – Bayern 1-0
Inter – Atletico 1-0
Eindhoven – Dortmund 1-1
SECOND MATCHES
- 05/03 22:00 Real Sociedad – Paris
- 05/03 22:00 Bayern – Lazio
- 06/03 22:00 Real – Leipzig
- 06/03 22:00 Manchester City – Copenhagen
- 12/03 22:00 Barcelona – Napoli
- 12/03 22:00 Arsenal – Porto
- 13/03 22:00 Atletico – Inter
- 13/03 22:00 Dortmund – Eindhoven
* The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place on March 15.