Xavi's Barça begins its last great challenge in Naples
Los 'culers' sees in the 'Champions' a possible lifeline
BARCELONA, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona visits Naples this Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (9:00 p.m.) in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, a competition that Xavi's Barça clings to to give joy to its fans in an unfortunate season in which, due to the wrong direction, the Egarense coach chose to leave deferred but promising to compete for everything until the end.
It will be an 'all or nothing' in two games, the first leg and the second leg, and from there we will dream. Barça faces this double event aware that LaLiga EA Sports is almost impossible and that the only ledge to hold on to, in case of success, make the season successful is this 'Champions'.
A demanding, complicated undertaking that will ask the team to give their best in all the games ahead. For now, in front of them, they will have a Napoli in trouble in Serie A, with a change of coach included, and who they have won in the two most recent ties played between them, one in the Champions League and another in the Europa League.
Barça should not trust themselves, because there is hardly any network. And saying goodbye to the 'Champions' in the round of 16, after two campaigns in which they could not even pass the group stage, would not help at all to calm an atmosphere that continues to be strained by the team's poor play, despite winning in Vigo at Celta on the last league day.
Competing game by game is what Barça must do to not be far from the continental dream. It is already a step to be in this round, but Naples also faces this event as an ultimatum, with the incentive of having a new coach and having less pressure, which will fall on a Barça that does not want to talk about favoritism in its favor.
The precedents are favorable to Barça. The most recent was in the Europa League, in the 2021/22 campaign, with a 5-3 overall score in favor of the 'culers'. And, in the Champions League, the clash was in the round of 16, as now, of the 2019/20 campaign, with 4-2 for the 'culers' who scraped a draw in Naples (1-1).
Looking ahead to this Wednesday, the Blaugrana team recovers two important pieces; that of captain Sergi Roberto and that of Portuguese playmaker João Félix, who received medical clearance from their respective injuries and entered the squad list. The Portuguese, recovered from a sprained right ankle, could be decisive if he brings the magic that he seemed to have recovered before his injury.
Both are the main new additions to the list of 23 players called up by the coach, Xavi Hernández, who still has the absences of Alejandro Balde, Gavi, Marcos Alonso and Ferran Torres. However, the medical outlook is better than two or three weeks ago and goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen, who could be key in 'Napoli', is already in place.
And the Neapolitans have, despite their irregularity, a truly luxurious attack with Politano, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia. Three fast and quality men, especially in the boots of the Georgian, who is the Italians' main threat.
A NAPLES WITH A NEW COACH
Of course, Naples is ninth in Serie A, which it won last year. Like Barça, both teams have just won their respective domestic championships a year ago and are far from being able to revalidate them, not to say it is impossible. At least, that's what it seems like in the Neapolitan case, since they are ninth, 27 points behind the leader, Inter Milan.
Hence, by surprise, 24 hours before this clash against Barça, the club opted for a change on the bench. The Italian coach Walter Mazzarri was dismissed this Monday as coach of the first team and Francesco Calzona, who is also the coach of Slovakia, is his replacement on the bench, in which he was assistant to both Maurizio Sarri and Luciano Spalletti.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
NAPLES: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Rrahmani, Mazzocchi; Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka, Cajuste; Politano, Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araujo, Inigo Martinez, Cancelo; Christensen, De Jong, Gündogan; Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski and Pedri.
–REFEREE: Felix Zwayer (ALE).
–STADIUM: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
–TIME: 21:00/Movistar Champions League.