MATCH PREVIEW: Napoli v Barcelona.
The second leg of the Round of 32 tie between the Azzurri and the Blaugrana is onto us and praizsports is previewing the clash before the do or die affair later tonight. Following the 1-1 draw at Camp Nou seven days ago, FC Barcelona will travel to Naples to battle Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for a place in the Round of 16.
Napoli drew first blood last Thursday through Piotr Zielinski, while a 2nd half penalty converted by Ferran Torres levelled things up.
The Blaugrana had a lot of chances to put the tie far beyond the Azzurri’s reach but failed to convert none of their 21 shots on goal. They’d try to take no chances tonight as the tie could summarize their season.
Napoli Team news:
Barcelona Team news:
Barcelona have won just one of their last ten away knockout fixtures in European competitions, which came against Manchester United in a 0-1 victory. The Naples outfit have been boosted by the return of a several key players, including attacking duo Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Politano.
The latter picked up an injury in training after the Inter Milan clash, and missed Napoli’s games against Barcelona and Cagliari. The former, missed the weekend game against Cagliari due to injury, but has returned in time to face the Spanish giants.
“It would mean a lot for us to get through”, Ter Stegen said at Barca’s press conference earlier today. “We’d be seeing a different Napoli tonight”, Xavi said. “We won’t be seeing the Napoli that appeared to be content with a draw at Camp Nou”. Both teams will have all to play for in tonight’s tie.
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Jesus; Ruiz, Demme; Elmas, Zielinski, Mertens; Osimhen
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Pique, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Frenkie; Gavi’ Traore, Aubameyang
In homage to Maradona, the stadium will applaud in the 10th minute of tonight’s clash.