In the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, Barcelona hosts Napoli, and Cannavaro Jr. calls it a Champions League-level match. This is also true, after all, Barca have been the favourites to win the Champions League in the past, and Napoli only "ceded" the Champions League qualification to Juventus in the last round of Serie A last season.
In the group stage of the Champions League this season, Barca were in the same group as Bayern, Benfica and Dynamo Kiev, and it was normal to lose to Bayern in two legs, but in the end they did not even qualify for the group. Napoli joined Leicester City, Sparta Moscow and Legia Warsaw in the europa League group stage and advanced to the second place in the group.
In recent times, the two companies have not had a very good record in the league, and Barca's away defeat in the 24th round of La Liga has been exhausted and lost, only to draw 2:2 with Espanyol, if it were not for the defending champion Atletico Madrid's worse record, Barca's fourth place in La Liga would be difficult to protect. In the 25th round of Serie A, Napoli drew 1:1 at home with defending champions Inter Milan, missing a good opportunity to reach the top, but cheapening AC Milan to the top of the Serie A table.
Barca currently rank fourth in La Liga table with 39 points in 23 games, trailing leaders Real Madrid by 15 points in the first round of the minor round, and dominating the goal difference with fifth-placed Atletico. After a 2-2 away draw with Espanyol, Barca's 17-year-old Gavi said Barca's goal this season is still la Liga title, is it possible? Keeping the top four and qualifying for the Champions League is a more realistic goal.
Napoli 25 games accumulated 53 points ranked third in the Serie A table, 2 points behind the top of the table AC Milan, 1 point behind inter milan in the second round of the second fewer rounds, there is still hope for the championship, but the primary goal is still to keep the top four, to maintain the Champions League qualification, after all, Juventus, Atalanta behind the strength is not bad, may catch up at any time.
Of course, winning the Europa League championship can also lead directly to next season's Champions League, but Barcelona and Napoli may not spend too much energy on this championship, but if they can easily go further, or even win the championship, the two companies will naturally not refuse.
In the campaign, Barca started 433, Aubameyang, Ferran Torres, Traore formed a forward trident, all three are new signings in the winter window, and may be the most anticipated forward combination of fans, midfielderS Pedri, Frankie De Jong, Nico Gonzalez, four defenders Alba, Eric Garcia, Pique, Mingeza, goalkeeper Ter Stegen.
Napoli started 4231, Osmayne played in the center, in the forward line Insigne, Zelinsky, Elmas, double back Anguiza, Fabian Ruiz, four defenders Juan, Koulibaly, Lamani, Di Lorenzo, goalkeeper Meret.
Neither side has reservations.
After the opening of the game, the two sides attacked and defended each other, and Barca had more opportunities to attack, but only blossomed and did not bear fruit. In the 28th minute, Zelinsky broke the deadlock on the field.
In the 55th minute, Traore's cross hit Juan's hand and the referee awarded a penalty after VAR verification. Ferran Torres hit the penalty and Barca equalised.
In the 64th minute, Dembele replaced Traore, in the 84th minute, Luke De Jong replaced Aubameyang, and after the equalizer in the second half, Barca attacked and dominated, but failed to score again, and finally could only accept a 1-1 draw.
Barca shot 5 times on target in 21 shots, Napoli shot 4 times on target, the possession rate of Barca 69%, Napoli 31%, Barca dominated the whole game, but failed to turn into a winning trend. Ferran Torres alone scored nine shots on goal but scored only one penalty.
The three new signings in the forward line who have high hopes, Traore who returned from loan is a normal play, can not score, but can create opportunities for his teammates. The free Aubameyang has not yet ifned, and is far from the level of the former Premier League Golden Boot. 55 million euros to introduce Felan Torres, there is still room for improvement, but joining Barca so far can only be regarded as the same, Manchester City sold him to Barca, not a righteous aid, just a good business, which is to pay the full amount or installments, after all, only 33.5 million euros were spent when imported from Valencia, if there is really development potential, it must be kept for their own use.
For Barca, it doesn't matter how far the Europa League can go, it doesn't matter if they win the title, what matters is to keep in the top four in the La Liga table.