In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, the SSC Naples on Tuesday evening (25.02.2020) with 1: 1 (1: 0) from FC Barcelona Cut. The goals were scored by Dries Mertens (30th) for Naples and Antoine Griezmann (57th) for Barcelona. Marc-Andre ter Stegen secured the good starting position of the Catalans with strong parades in half two.
Naples defends compactly
The game started as expected: Barcelona took control of the game from the start. More than once, with the exception of the German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, all the professionals were completely in half of the Neapolitans. However, no opportunities popped out for the guests. Instead, the Catalans pushed the ball across at no speed.
The home side was offensive at all for the first thirty minutes. The way in front of the opposing goal was often too far. But then Junior Firpo lost the ball to Piotr Zolinski in the build-up game – a cross pass to Mertens was enough for him to flip the ball beautifully into the right corner. Then shortly before the break there was even a chance for the 2-0: After a free kick Kostas Manolas put the ball just next to the box (43.).
Griezmann equalizes
After the break, everything initially looked the same: Barcelona with a lot of possession, Naples with clever defensive work. The Spaniards were first noticed by a hard foul by Sergio Busquets against Mertens. The Spaniard saw his third yellow card in the competition and is therefore missing in the second leg. Mertens had to get out injured. Nine minutes later, positive things from Busquets: He used the starting Nelson Semedo, who broke on Griezmann – 1-1.
Naples was by no means shocked. Ter Stegen made two outstanding saves against Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon. After that, Barcelona again acted superiorly – but without creating opportunities. Shortly before the end, the emotions boiled up again: Arturo Vidal fouled Mario Rui and saw the yellow card for it. Afterwards, the participants took on each other. Both were cautioned for this – for Vidal this meant taking a yellow-red shower prematurely.
“Clásico” for Barca, location in Serie A unclear
For Naples is now in the Series A actually a home game against the FC Turin on. Due to the outbreak of the corona virus in Italy, it is still unclear whether the league game scheduled for Saturday (29.02.2020) will take place. Barcelona has one of the most important games of the year ahead of them:Clásico“the Catalans join on Sunday real Madrid on.
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