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For the first time in three years, Barcelona travelled overseas to take part in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. Drawn up against Napoli, they took to the field in Naples late on Wednesday night hoping to take home an advantage against a team in disarray.
Xavi opted to go with his best lineup against the reigning Italian champions, and unsurprisingly so. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen started in goal with Ronald Araujo and Inigo Martinez in central defence. Joao Cancelo and Jules Kounde started at left and right-back respectively.
Andreas Christensen was deployed as the pivot once more on the night and was joined by Frenkie de Jong and Ilkay Gundogan in midfield. Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Pedri completed the lineup.
The game at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium kicked off late in the night with the Catalans doing the honours. As was projected before the game, Barcelona dominated the opening spell of the clash and did so convincingly.
The first few minutes of the night were all Barcelona as Xavi’s men pushed forward ruthlessly in attack without looking back. It was, in many ways, one of the team’s best starts to a game in recent months.
Their first chance of the night arose as early as the fourth minute. Joao Cancelo’s cross into the centre found Robert Lewandowski who left the ball to run to Yamal’s feet in front of goal. The youngster’s shot tested Alex Meret but could not get the better of him.
Gundogan, Cancelo and Yamal ran the show for Barcelona in the period that followed, carrying on the Catalan supremacy and forcing Napoli to dig deep for defensive resources.
The hosts’ first attacking transition arose in the 11th minute when Kvaratskhelia attempted to venture into the Catalan box from the wing only to be denied by Araujo. At the other end, Lewy made a smart run to get into position but could not capitalise on Pedri’s through ball.
Napoli began to make inroads into the Barcelona half regularly only closer to the 20-minute…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/napoli-1-1-barcelona-match-review-champions-league/
Author : Udhav Arora
Publish date : 2024-02-21 21:53:14
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