Barcelona kept their Champions League dreams alive on Saturday at the Camp Nou as they defeated Napoli in their round of 16 second-leg to advance to the quarter-finals. A trio of goals from the first half gave the La Liga side a 3-1 victory over their opponent, delivering a 4-2 aggregate win that Barcelona continued to advance to the final eight.
Lionel Messi, which was a lot on the line entering, scored a fantastic goal in the first half to help build an early 3-1 half advantage against their Serie A opposition. Luis Suarez and Clement Lenglet also contributed to the lead with their own goals, while all of Napoli were able to react was a penalty from Lorenzo Insigne. The rest held for the final 45, and provided Friday for the date of Barcelona with Bayern Munich.
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Takeaways
How would a beginning of Mertens have changed things?
Only 120 seconds after this second leg of the band, Dries Mertens had a chance on goal when a deflected cross found its way to his feet in the box. The ball seemed to catch him off guard, and his shot went high into the top corner of the side netting. If he had just a little more concentration, something he certainly has in him, he could have placed the ball just past Ter Stegen and put Napoli in the driver’s seat. Would it necessarily have stopped the crime that Barcelona showed it was capable of producing later in the game? No. But it would only have the pressure back on the side of a La Liga squad that has a recent history of Champions League ties – the kind of position you want to be in when you’re an underdog.
VAR: also used for makeup talks!
Among the more surprising decisions of the match came from Barcelona’s first goal when Lenglet was able to get an opener past Ospina. Upon evaluation of the goal, however, it appeared as if the defender had marked the man who marked him on the ground to come open for the goal. However, a VAR check determined that the target stood. Despite what some might refer to as a clear and obvious mistake, the official could do something that meant more technology to correct and make a judgment call to make up for his previous mistake.
Minutes later, in what should have been Barcelona’s third goal, VAR microscopically analyzed a replay of Messi’s short life second goal and found that the ball made just enough marginal contact with his arm, which did not count the goal. Barcelona would later score that third goal from a penalty – which also required a long VAR check.
For a while, Messi’s Magic did not fight
Messi does not need too long to remind the world what makes him one of the greatest the game has ever played. Its purpose can only be defined as pure magic. After stepping into the box, he was able to regain his balance, repeat the ball he dribbled and score an incredible, curling effort as he began to slip and fall again. It was the Argentine who did what he does best: call up a goal-scoring opportunity where every other player on the planet would not even make a modicum of a threat.
Check out the live feed below for updates, analysis and highlights from the Round of 16 match.
Barcelona 3, Napoli 1 (FINAL)
⚽Barcelona: Lenglet (10 ‘)
Barcelona: Messi (23 ‘)
Barcelona: Suarez – PK (45 + 1 ‘)
Napoli: Insigne – PK (45 + 4 ‘)
