In their first visit to the temple that once belonged to Diego Armando Maradona, Lionel Messi and Barcelona were put to the ropes by a convincing Napoli side in a Champions League Round of 16 first leg. The Partenopei, however, failed to knock Quique Setien’s squad out after Dries Mertens’ opening goal and eventually saw their lead canceled by Antoine Griezmann’s equalizer.
The French pixie pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for the visiting Barcelona side which still appeared recovering from a disappointing season. The away goal that set the score at 1-1 will give the Spanish side a good advantage when they face again the Azzurri at the Camp Nou in two weeks.
All in all, a bitter disappointment for coach Gennaro Gattuso, who suddenly found himself leading a team in a Champions League knockout stage game despite a non-excellent track record as a coach, but went close to wrapping the upset of the European football week when Mertens put the ball past Marc-André Ter Stegen with a beautiful curl shot in the 29th minute.
The good news for the Neapolitan coach is that Barcelona will be missing Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal in the second leg at the Camp Nou. That will partially make up for conceding the Azulgrana an away goal in a match that Napoli seemed capable of winning.
The game started with the San Paolo Stadium supporters roaring THE CHAMPIOOONS at the end of the competition anthem, as they have been used to do ever since Napoli started to show themselves around the top European competition. It’s a show worth the price of the ticket itself.
Leo Messi quickly found out that his visit in Napoli was not going to be a walk in the park: Every time La Pulga touched the ball, a rainstorm of whistles followed his steps and, when he tried his first acceleration in the 26th minute, the Neapolitan defense blocked him – much to the delight of the loud San Paolo stands.
Not much happened in the first quarter of the game anyway, with Barcelona maintaining control of the ball but seeming not to quite know what to do with it. Long gone are the days of the Tiki Taka.
Then, in the 29th minute, Dries Mertens made the whole stadium explode with a stunning right-foot curl that left no chance to Barcelona’s German goalkeeper. Much of the credit, however, went to Piotr Zielinski, who was quick enough to take advantage of Junior Firpo’s mishap to serve Ciro a golden assist and make the Belgian become Napoli’s all-time top scorer alongside Marek Hamsik at 121 goals.
Kostas Manolas missing the target by a few inches, well served by José Callejon from the right, brought Napoli close to make it two just before half time.
Barcelona resorted to hard means to break the Partenopei’s momentum and Sergio Busquets crippled Dries Mertens early in the second half, earning a yellow card which will force him to miss the second leg at the Camp Nou. The match-winner up to that point eventually left the pitch, replaced by Arkadiusz Milik.
In the 56th minute, however, Barcelona’s number 5 redeemed himself as he served Nelson Semedo with a sublime filtering pass. Napoli’s defense was caught by surprise this time as the Portuguese sent the ball in from the right. Antoine Griezmann only had to tap it in from point-blank range to level for the Azulgrana.
Barca’s equalizer didn’t seem to shoot the Partenopei down as Ter Stegen had to close the door twice in the space of a few minutes, first denying Lorenzo Insigne and then José Callejon, to prevent the home side from taking the lead again.
Then it was David Ospina’s turn to save his squad, stretching his arm to anticipate Leo Messi’s tap in from a pass from the right side by Arturo Vidal – with Napoli continuing to suffer Seiten’s lineup’s incursions from the right flank.
Gennaro Gattuso eventually substituted José Callejon with January signing Matteo Politano for the final assault which however bore no results.
In the 74th minute, Messi gained a corner as Nikola Maksimovic blocked him in the box. He shot the corner himself and saw his suggestion for Samuel Umtiti neutralized by Napoli’s goalkeeper. The alleged GOAT tried another incursion into Napoli’s area in the 82nd minute but was blocked by the defensive line after dribbling three people on his way.
The last emotion of the game was Arturo Vidal winning a ticket to the locker room two minutes before the final whistle due to a violent tackle on Mario Rui. The Chilean will thus be missing the 2nd leg match on March 18: A trial in which Napoli have the possibility to survive if they avoid making mistakes like the one that led to Griezmann’s finish.
That’s what coach Gennaro Gattuso remarked in a post-match press conference where he seemed more disappointed at the wasted chance to win than happy about his team’s encouraging performance against the once-dominant Blaugrana side.
MATCH REPORT
February 25, 2019 – Champions League 2019-20 Round of 16
NAPOLI-BARCELONA 1-1
SCORERS: 30′ Mertens (N), 57′ Griezmann (B)
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NAPOLI (4-3-3): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Maksimovic, Mario Rui; Ruiz, Demme (79′ Allan), Zielinski; Callejòn (74′ Politano), Mertens (54′ Milik), Insigne (Meret, Luperto, Hysaj, Elmas) Coach: Gattuso |
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BARCELONA (4-3-1-2): Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué (93′ Lenglet), Umtiti, Junior Firpo; De Jong, Busquets, Rakitic (56′ Arthur); Vidal; Griezmann (88′ Ansu Fati), Messi (Neto, Puig, Araujo, Akieme) Coach: Setièn |
REFEREE: Byrch (Germany)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Insigne, Mario Rui (N), Busquets, Messi, Griezmann (B); Red Card: Vidal (B); Extra Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 5′