Antoine Griezmann strikes to secure 10-man Barca draw at Napoli
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Updated 25/02/2020 at 22:33 GMT
Stadio San Paolo, Napoli 1 (Mertens, 30) FC Barcelona 1 (Griezmann, 57)
Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann celebrates scoring their first goal with Lionel Messi and teammates
Image credit: Reuters
Barcelona are on course to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the 13th consecutive season after a hard-fought draw in Naples.
It was a difficult night for Barcelona, who struggled to break down a superbly organised Napoli defence. But when you have been eliminated from the Champions League as traumatically as they have in the last two seasons, the result is far more important than the performance.
Barcelona dominated possession throughout against Napoli, who were happy to rely on counter-attacks, yet their goal came from their only shot on target.
The lively Dries Mertens gave Napoli the lead in an otherwise uneventful first half, curling the ball sweetly into the top corner after a good pass from Piotr Zielinski. It was his 121st goal for Napoli, equalling the club record held by Marek Hamsik.
Mertens limped off injured in the 54th minute, and the mood of the tie changed completely three minutes later when Antoine Griezmann finished emphatically at the end of a fine team move. It was the first time all night that Barcelona had been able to pass through the Napoli defence.
The match opened up a little after that, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen making one decent save and one superb one in the space of a few minutes. At the other end, an otherwise subdued Lionel Messi was denied a classic solo goal by a vital tackle from Kostas Manolas.
Arturo Vidal was sent off with a few minutes remaining, having received two yellow cards in the same incident. He and Sergio Busquets – who was booked for the high tackle that put Mertens out of the game – will miss the second leg.
Their absence is far from ideal, especially with a number of key players out through injury. But there is not a team in the world who would be unhappy with a score draw in the away leg.
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Barcelona's Arturo Vidal looks dejected with Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne and Barcelona coach Quique Setien after being shown a red card by referee
Image credit: Reuters
TALKING POINT
Were Napoli too defensive?
In simple terms, this was catenaccio versus tiki-taka. But there are plenty who will feel that Napoli, as the home side, should have taken greater risks. The result supports that argument, yet their performance was nigh-on perfect for 99 per cent of the game. They lost concentration only once and were punished by Antoine Griezmann. Such are the margins in elite sport: had Griezmann missed, we would be hailing a tactical masterclass from Gennaro Gattuso.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Piotr Zielisnki – A classy, all-purpose midfielder. Got his head down throughout, as a key part of Napoli’s defensive performance, and got his head up to make their goal with a fine pass to Mertens.
PLAYER RATINGS
Napoli: Ospina 6, Di Lorenzo 7, Maksimovic 7, Manolas 6, Mario Rui 7, Fabian Ruiz 7, Demme 6, Zielinski 8, Callejon 6, Mertens 8, Insigne 7. Subs: Milik 7, Allan 6, Politano 6.
Barcelona: ter Stegen 7, Semedo 6, Pique 7, Umtiti 6, Junior Firpo 6, Rakitic 5, Busquets 7, de Jong 6, Vidal 7, Messi 6, Griezmann 7. Subs: Arthur 6, Fati 6, Lenglet 6.
KEY MOMENTS
30’ GOAL! Napoli 1-0 Barcelona (Mertens) Dries Mertens gives Napoli the lead with a majestic finish! It came out of nothing, with Napoli suddenly finding themselves three against two after a slight mistake from Junior Firpo. Zielinski screwed a perceptive pass across the edge of the area to find Mertens, who moved the ball onto his right foot and curled an extravagant shot into the far top corner. Brilliant.
57’ GOAL! Napoli 1-1 Barcelona (Griezmann) A superb equaliser from Barcelona! Busquets slides a brilliant angled pass to release Semedo on the right, and his low ball across the area is slammed into the root of the net by Griezmann. That was a lovely team goal.
63’ ter Stegen makes a brilliant save! Napoli should have gone back in front. Busquets played a loose pass that was intercepted by Zielinski and pushed forward to Milik on the edge of the area. He slid it to the right to put Callejon through on goal, and his shot was superbly blocked by the outrushing ter Stegen. He really flew from his line to narrow the angle.
88’ VIDAL IS SENT OFF! He receives two yellow cards in the same incident. The first was for a late challenge on Mario Rui, the second for going head to head with Rui, who was also booked for his part in the whole shemozzle.
KEY STATS
- Barcelona have progressed from each of their last 19 knockout ties in the Champions League after avoiding defeat away from home in the first leg.
- Since winning their first ever game in the Champions League knockout stages (3-1 v Chelsea in 2011-12), Napoli have failed to win any of their last four games outside of the group stage (D1 L3), with three of those coming against Spanish opponents.
- Barcelona have only won one of their previous nine away games in the Champions League knockout stages (D3 L5), with that lone victory coming against Manchester United in April 2019.
- Gennaro Gattuso and Quique Setién took charge of their first Champions League games tonight – it is the first time in Champions League history that two managers are facing in the knockout stages in their first ever games in the competition.
- Dries Mertens scored his 121st goal for Napoli across all competitions, equalling Marek Hamsik as the joint-top scorer in the club’s history.
- Napoli striker Dries Mertens has netted six goals in the Champions League this season; the most by any player for the club in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign.
- Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann scored his first away Champions League goal since February 2017 for Atlético Madrid (versus Bayer Leverkusen); each of his previous nine strikes in the competition had been scored in home games.
- Arturo Vidal is the first Barcelona player to be sent off in the Champions League in the knockout stages since April 2011, when Pinto was dismissed against Real Madrid.
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