UCL: Barcelona Oust Victor Osimhen’s Napoli To Reach Quarter-final
2 min read
By Sedara Philip
Two early goals took Barcelona to a 3-1 win over Napoli and 4-2 aggregate lead in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 tie, knocking the Partenopei out of a European competition after a 1-1 first-leg draw for the third time since 2020.
Xavi Hernández’s youngsters took centre stage during a rapid start, as Lamine Yamal and Fermín López both fired off-target after getting into promising positions, while Pau Cubarsí made a superb challenge to prevent Victor Osimhen from racing through.
Cubarsí then played a brilliant ball to release Fermín, although the midfielder couldn’t find the target with his lofted effort. The third time proved to be the charm for the 20-year-old, who applied a composed finish to Raphinha’s cutback on the quarter-hour mark.
The hosts’ lead was doubled within two minutes as Yamal started a blistering break and played the ball through for Raphinha, whose effort struck the post and saw the ball bounce into João Cancelo’s path for the full-back to convert. That left Napoli desperately needing a response, which arrived on the half-hour mark as Amir Rrahmani latched onto Matteo Politano’s pass with a pinpoint finish.
There was a further blow that left Ronald Araújo with a cut above his eye, although Marc-André ter Stegen stretched to deny Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s header to ensure that Barça navigated the rest of the half unscathed.
Francesco Calzona’s men gave Barça another warning two minutes into the second period when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia found space on the edge of the box, but the Georgian sent his effort curling agonisingly wide. While Raphinha forced Alex Meret into an awkward save, Napoli were putting the hosts under pressure, which resulted in Xavi turning to the experience of Sergi Roberto and Oriol Romeu on the hour mark.
The moments of uncertainty continued, though, as André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s shot was blocked following an unconvincing header from Cancelo, while Yamal had a goal disallowed for offside at the other end.
After Jesper Lindstrøm headed wide from a massive opportunity for the visitors, Barcelona finally got the breathing space they craved when İlkay Gündoğan and Roberto teamed up to leave Robert Lewandowski with a simple finish.
That confirmed that the Blaugrana would reach the UCL quarter-final for the first time since the 2019/20 campaign in addition to continuing their nine-game unbeaten run. They also ended Napoli’s six-game unbeaten streak, their longest so far this season.
Sedara Philip is a Sports writer, an administrator,Journalist,and editor
