Somali Magazine – Barcelona, the Spanish La Liga superpower, must beat Italian Serie A club Napoli at home in the Round of 16 second leg on Tuesday to advance to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Barcelona lost an opportunity to win the opening leg of the Round of 16 match in Italy, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Barcelona has been plagued by injuries in their team, with midfielders Gavi, Pedri, and Frankie De Jong all nursing long-term ailments.
“I’m upset because we deserved more,” stated Barcelona manager Xavi after the first leg game in Italy, adding, “This isn’t a nice result to take to Barcelona since we should have won. It represents our season in that we should have won but did not. However, if we continue to play like this, we will win far more often than lose.”
Napoli manager Francesco Calzona, for his part, stated: “We still have a lot to work on, but I applauded the players on their performance. We fought, had a wonderful second half, and a fantastic last 15 minutes. I enjoyed the spirit a lot. In the end, we thought we could win this game.”
The UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, semifinal, and final drawings will be place in Nyon on Friday.
Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg Fixtures:
Tuesday:
Arsenal (England) against Porto (Portugal) (0-1)
Barcelona (Spain)-Napoli (Italy) (1–1)
Wednesday:
Atletico Madrid (Spain) against Inter Milan (Italy) (0-1)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)-PSV (Netherlands) (1–1)