Barcelona has confirmed itself to the quarter-finals of the 2023-2024 Champions League. This happened after they managed to beat Napoli 3-1 in the second leg of the round of 16, Tuesday (12/3/2024).
These results put Xavi Hernandez’s troops ahead 4-2 on aggregate from the Partenopei. Barcelona also has the right to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.
Appearing in front of their own supporters, Barcelona tried to control the match from the early minutes. Xavi Hernandez’s squad dominated possession of the ball over the visitors.
It didn’t take long, Barcelona immediately took the lead when the game had only been running for 15 minutes. Fermin Lopez put the Blaugrana ahead after using a pass from Rapinha.
Two minutes later, Napoli’s goal was broken again. This time it was Joao Cancelo’s turn to get his name on the scoreboard after welcoming a wild ball that bounced off the goalpost.
Meanwhile, Napoli, who were shocked by two quick goals, tried to get out of the pressure. Partenopei managed to reduce the deficit in the 30th minute through the action of Amir Rrahmani. The score 2-1 for Barcelona lasted until the break.
Entering the second half, Barcelona in turn came under pressure from the visiting team. However, Joao Cancelo and his colleagues were still disciplined enough to repel the incoming attacks.
Taking advantage of counter attacks several times, Barcelona managed to increase their score against Napoli. This time it was Robert Lewandowski’s turn to get his name on the scoreboard and ensure Barcelona’s victory over Napoli with a final score of 3-1.
Meanwhile, after the match, Joao Cancelo admitted that Barcelona would think about the draw for the next round. However, he was happy that his team could appear again in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after not being able to reach that stage for the last four seasons.
“Now we think about the draw on Friday, this club deserves to be among the eight best teams in Europe and after four years we are back there,” said Joao Cancelo, quoted from Tuttomercato, Wednesday (13/3/2024).
In the last four Champions League seasons, Barcelona was unable to reach the quarter-finals. To be precise, the last time Barcelona reached the quarter-finals was in the 2018-2019 season, but had to stop in the semifinals after losing 3-4 on aggregate to Liverpool.
Joao Cancelo admits that Napoli have very good players in terms of ability, but the 2023-2024 season will not be a good season for them. Nevertheless, he considered that Barcelona deserved a landslide victory because their teammates played well and ran a lot to open up space.
“They haven’t had a good season but they are an extraordinary team, they have a lot of very good players technically. But we played well, ran a lot and won decently,” he concluded.
