Napoli take on Barcelona in the second leg of their Europa League knockout round playoffs after the first game ended 1-1 at the Nou Camp in Spain a week ago.
A penalty kick by new Barcelona signing Ferran Torres on the hour mark cancelled out Piotr Zielinski’s first-half opener for Napoli to leave the series perfectly poised heading into the decisive leg in Italy.
Since the last showdown, Barcelona claimed an emphatic 4-1 victory of Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netting a hat-trick and Frenkie De Jong also finding the back of the net.
The Italian side has two fewer days of rest, after featuring on Monday night in a disappointing 1-1 league draw away to Cagliari.
The two sides faced each other for the first time in Europe in the 2019-20 Champions League Round of 16 with Barcelona advancing 4-2 on aggregate over two legs. A lot has changed for both clubs since that series and these two historic European clubs will both be eager to regain continental glory in this competition.
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Sporting News is following the match live and providing live score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
Napoli vs. Barcelona live score
1H | 2H | Final | |
Napoli | 1 | 0 | — |
Barcelona | 3 | 1 | — |
Goals: Jordi Alba (9′) De Jong (13′) Insigne (23′ Pen) Pique (45′) Aubameyang (59′)
Aggregate Score: Napoli 2-5 Barcelona
(All times Eastern)
Napoli vs. Barcelona live updates
69th min: Goal Ruled OUT for Offside! Insigne’s volley is ruled out following a good move.
67th min: Napoli frustrations grow as Barcelona have taken over possession and are dominating proceedings. It’s simply been one of Barcelona’s best performances for a long time.
Best Barca performance in a long, long time.
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) February 24, 2022
62nd min: Wonderkid Gavi (who’s still 17 years old by the way!) comes on for Sergio Busquets.
59th min: A brilliant passing move from Barcelona saw Traore cross low, which was left by De Jong and Aubameyang fired brilliantly into the top corner. A top quality goal from former Arsenal striker!
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores again for Barcelona and might just put this out of reach! Barça is flipping toward the #UEL last 16
(via @TUDNUSA) pic.twitter.com/19JTU0lF6H
— Planet Fútbol (@si_soccer) February 24, 2022
59th min: GOAL FOR BARCELONA! AUBAMEYANG MAKES IT 4-1!
57th min: Yellow Card for Zielinski! The Polish midfielder brings down Aubameyang cynically to stop the counter attack and is the first player to go into the book so far.
55th min: Chance for Barcelona! Traore’s deep cross was parried by Meret out to De Jong, who’s shot was brilliantly blocked by Rrahmani to stop Barca getting a fourth goal!
52nd min: Pitor Zielinski and Insigne link up to get into Barcelona’s area but the shot is blocked well by Pedri but the corner comes to nothing. Still a high pace to the game early in the second half.
46th min: Second half underway! Napoli make one change with Matteo Politano coming on for Demme as Napoli need 2 goals to force extra time!
HALF-TIME: Barcelona are in the driving seat going into the second half, and Napoli have it all to do in the second half. Expect more goals in the second half, what a game it’s been so far!
HALF-TIME: Jordi Alba has rolled back the years on a big European Night for Barcelona, scoring the opening goal and it was his deflected cross that led to the Pique goal too. What a player!
Ten years at Barcelona and Jordi Alba is still delivering in the big games 💛 pic.twitter.com/Cp5tcWqxQT
— GOAL (@goal) February 24, 2022
HALF-TIME: Barcelona have been in fine goal scoring recently, and it’s carried on here tonight!
⚽️⚽️⚽️ vs. Atlético
⚽️⚽️⚽️ vs. Valencia
⚽️⚽️⚽️ vs. NapoliBarcelona have scored 3+ goals in the first half in three of their last five games. 👀 #UEL pic.twitter.com/367Lsa1ABY
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 24, 2022
HALF-TIME: Napoli 1-3 Barcelona
45th min: Pique finishes with his left foot following another Alba cross, the Spaniard finishing like a striker!
Waka Waka This Time For Pique!
Gerard Pique restores Barcelona’s 2 goal lead. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/oPokFZbVIx
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 24, 2022
45th min: GOAL FOR BARCELONA! GERARD PIQUE MAKES IT 3-1!
43rd min: More brilliant play from De Jong as he powers past a few challenges before setting through Traore, who wins another corner.
37th min: Barcelona break again with Traore who got in behind the Napoli defence again, but was dispossessed when cutting inside by Diego Demme.
27th min: HUGE chance for Aubameyang, as more Barcelona pressure led to a corner which was flicked onto the back post where he was unmarked, but somehow fired wide! All action here at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
25th min: GOAL FOR NAPOLI! Insigne makes no mistake as he emphatically scores from the spot.
Lorenzo Insigne gives Napoli life from the penalty spot! pic.twitter.com/iUTitnRWyy
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 24, 2022
24th min: PENALTY TO NAPOLI! Osihem was brought down by a reckless Ter-Stegen
23rd min: VAR CHECK FOR NAPOLI PENALTY
17th min: Frenkie De Jong bends a curling effort from outside the box into the top corner to double Barcelona’s lead. What a goal!
BARCELONA HIT NAPOLI ON THE COUNTER AND JORDI ALABA FINISHES WITH HIS RIGHT FOOT. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/IiQaFtc1Ol
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 24, 2022
16th min.: GOAL FOR BARCELONA! DE JONG DOUBLES THE LEAD!
11th min: A fast counter-attack lead by Adama Traore, in typical fashion, powered through to set up Jordi Alba, who slotted past Meret to open the scoring! Napoli 0-1 Barcelona.
A Napoli corner kick turns directly into a Barcelona goal!
An absolutely clinical counter steered by Adama Traore is finished off by Jordi Alba. It’s 1-0 on the day, 2-1 on aggregate for Barça #UEL
(via @TUDNUSA) pic.twitter.com/uQLddm0ras
— Planet Fútbol (@si_soccer) February 24, 2022
10th min: GOAL FOR BARCELONA!
5th min: Following a quiet opening few minutes, Barcelona have settled into a rhythm, with some good possession early on.
1st min: And we are underway in Naples!
2:56 p.m.: Key news for Napoli is that Lorenzo Insigne returns after missing the league game against Cagliari, as key players Victor Osimhen, Fabian Ruiz and Kalidou Koulibaly all start in Naples.
2:52 p.m.: Key team news for Barcelona is: Gerard Pique returns and Ferran Torres joins Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the front three.
2:15 p.m.: No Lionel Messi on the field this time, but the matchup is a good excuse to surface one of his best goals for the Blaugrana.
The last time the chips were down for Barcelona against Napoli, Lionel Messi pulled this off 🔥
🎥 @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/E2RTUsW4Qx
— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) February 24, 2022
Napoli vs. Barcelona lineups
Napoli projected lineup (4-2-3-1): 1-Meret (GK) — 22-Di Lorenzo, 26-Koulibaly, 13-Rrahmani, 6-Mario Rui — 4-Demme, 8-Fabian Ruiz — 7-Elmas, 20-Zielinski, 24-Insigne — 9-Osimhen.
Napoli subs (10): Ospina (GK), Idasiak (GK), Juan Jesus, Ghoulam, Zanoli, Mertens, Ounas, Petagna, Politano
Barcelona lineup (4-3-3): 1-Ter Stegen — 2-Dest, 3-Pique, 4-Araujo, 18-Alba — 21-De Jong, 5-Busquets, 16-Pedri — 11-Traore, 25-Aubameyang, 19-Torres.
Barcelona subs (10): Neto (GK), Arnau Tenas (GK), Mingueza, Eric Garcia, Riqui Puig, Nico, Gavi, Dembele, Braithwaite, De Jong
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