ROME – Napoli faced Barcelona at the Stadio Maradona on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Champion League’s Round of 16.

 Both teams won their respective leagues last season but recently have failed to inspire with Napoli in ninth place and Barcelona in third. In what promised to be a big clash, the behind-the-scenes of the teams left many fans wondering if either club would be up to the challenge or be able to retain any of last year’s glory.

 The Neapolitans have struggled this season, with four managers since August. The Champions League face off was the first match in charge for new interim coach Francesco Calzona, whose Barcelonan counterpart Xavi has been in charge since 2021. However, it has not been perfect for Xavi either, who announced he would leave Barcelona at the end of the 2024 season after claims of not being “valued” by the club.

 The lineups saw familiar faces return and records broken with Victor Osimhen returning from the African Cup of Nations to wear a Napoli shirt for the first time this year. Barcelona’s starting lineup included Lamine Yamal who became the youngest player to start in a Champions League knockout game, age 16.

 Barcelona hit ground running with fluid play, which saw Yamal nearly put a goal past Alex Meret in the first ten minutes. The Catalan team continued to dominate the first half, with two attempts on goal in two minutes around the 20-minute mark from Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan respectively. However, Meret was on good form and made impressive stops to prevent Barcelona from scoring.

 Napoli failed to make any big impression before the half hour mark, struggling to make it past the defence and into the opposition’s box. In the last 15 minutes of the first half, Barcelona eased off and Napoli gained possession, however failed to create any big chances.

 The scoreline at half time read 0-0, but did not reflect the on-pitch performance, with Barcelona unlucky to not be ahead.

 Napoli started the second half off with a stronger performance, showing a glimpse of the team they were last season. This didn’t last long, with Barcelona regaining possession Gundogan made another attempt on goal in the 48^th minute, however, was once more denied by a brilliant save from Meret.  

 The breakthrough Barcelona had been looking for came in the 59^th minute. Lewandoski opened the scoring of the night after receiving the ball from Pedri on the edge of the box. He masterfully slotted the ball past two defenders into the bottom corner of the net, beyond Meret’s reach.

 Lewandoski’s goal inspired Barcelona, who pushed forward in attack, continuing to make attempts on goal, however Meret made show-stopping saves to deny the Catalans each time, including stopping a long-range strike from Pedri.

 However, the hosts got their own back just before 75^th minute mark with a goal from Osimhen, his first goal for Napoli in 2024. The Nigerian was being defended by Inigo Martinez, who tried to stop the Napoli striker from receiving the ball by trying to grab his ankle. Osimhen powered on and slotted the ball past Ter Stegen.

 This completely changed the flow of the game, with the hosts slowly taking over as the dominating side, pushing forward into an attacking game, but despite their best attempts, Napoli were unable to score a winner.

 In the final minute of extra time, Barcelona almost scored the winner as Gundogan made another attempt on goal, however sent the shot slightly wide. The points were shared as the match ended 1-1.

 Napoli will travel to the Camp Nou in March for the second leg of the draw. Although their form in the domestic league has been poor, a draw against Barcelona and glimpses of last year’s play has left fans hoping Napoli will produce better form in upcoming matches.

 Elsewhere in the Champions League, Inter Milan won 1-0 against Atletico Madrid and Lazio won 1-0 against Bayern Munich.