Napoli vs Barcelona

Europe’s attention switches to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where Napoli and Barcelona lock horns in a mouth-watering Champions League last-16 tie.

Napoli’s humiliating Serie A title defense took another blow last weekend as they had to bounce back from a second-half deficit to hold promoted Genoa to a 1-1 home draw. After blowing hot and cold across their six league matches in 2024 (W2, D2, L2), the reigning Italian champions sacked underperforming manager Walter Mazzarri. ‘I Partenopei’ brought Slovakia national team coach Francesco Calzona as a replacement ahead of their quest to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for only the second time in the club’s history. Considering they’ve lost both two-legged ties against Barcelona in the past three years, the draw wasn’t kind to Napoli, who have emerged victorious from just two of their last 16 European encounters against Spanish opponents (D5, L9).

On the other hand, Barcelona’s faltering bid to defend their La Liga crown received a slight boost at the weekend. Xavi Hernandez’s side claimed a late 2-1 win at Celta Vigo to reduce the gap on leaders Real Madrid to eight points while extending their unbeaten run to four matches (W3, D1). The ‘Blaugrana’ must transfer their domestic resurgence to the European front to bolster their chances of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2019/20. Performing on the road could prove crucial, yet they’ve only won one of their last ten away games in the competition’s knockout stages (D4, L5). While that’s an ominous sign, the visitors can draw confidence from winning seven of their nine competitive outings outside Catalonia in 2024 (D1, L1), including the last two in a row ‘to one.’