Napoli fought back to hold visitors FC Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday as Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen cancelled out Robert Lewandowski’s opener.
Last year’s Spanish and Italian champions, both struggling this season, faced off in a lackluster match in which both sides were toothless and lacking in attacking flair.
Barcelona, who are third in the LaLiga standings, eight points behind leaders Real Madrid, dominated the first half against a disorganised Napoli, who barely got out of their own half.
“It is not a good result for the return leg.
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“We were better in all aspects of the game, we had to control and we struggled, we weren’t effective up front, it was a summary of our season,” FC Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez told reporters.
FC Barcelona faced their first Champions League knockout match in three years.
While Napoli led by new coach Francesco Calzona, their Serie A title defence was in shambles as they finished ninth in the domestic standings.
Napoli were frustrated by FC Barcelona’s high pressing, missing simple passes and giving the ball to the visitors, who also appeared to be out of ideas in possession.
Teenager Lamine Yamal, who at 16 years and 223 days became the youngest player to appear in the Champions League knockout phase, was also vying for the title of tournament’s youngest scorer.
But he sent an early effort wide and had a strike from distance saved by goalkeeper Alex Meret.
Ilkay Gundogan twice shot wide for Barca before Lewandowski broke the deadlock in the 60th minute.
He received a pass from Pedri just inside the box and made space to unleash a bullet strike into the bottom corner of the net.
That woke Napoli up and Nigerian Osimhen, playing his first game since the Africa Cup of Nations.
He equalised 15 minutes later with a fine swivelling strike from inside the box to leave the tie evenly poised ahead of the return leg in Spain on March 12.
“We have a lot of work to do, but I congratulated the team for rediscovering the desire to fight.
“We struggled at the start but I really liked the spirit of the side. The players gave their heart and soul to avoid defeat against a very strong opponent,” Calzona told reporters.
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