Barcelona vs. Napoli

February 21, 2024

The reigning champions of Italy and Spain are set to face off in the Champions League round of 16 as Napoli welcome Barcelona in the first leg at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night.

The second leg will take place at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, on March 12.

Both sides enter this tie under a managerial cloud with Napoli's new boss Francesco Calzona joining the Partenopei just two days before kick-off, while Xavi announced his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of this season.

All in all, this is the third time in five seasons that this pair have faced off in a European tie, with Barcelona winning the previous two (4-2 on aggregate in the Champions League last-16 in 2019-20 and 5-3 on aggregate in the Europa League knockout round play-offs in 2021-22)..

Napoli Betting Preview (+185 at Everygame)

Twelve months ago, Napoli were on a seven-game winning run in Serie A and looked destined to clinch their first Scudetto in over three decades. Furthermore, the Partenopei reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in history.

However, the second achievement felt like a huge disappointment as Napoli lost to AC Milan in an all-Italian quarter-final tie and they missed a fantastic opportunity to go even further in Europe’s elite competition.

Current reality feels much different as Napoli sit 9^th in the Serie A after 24 games, level on 36 points with Torino in 10^th place. They are nine points behind the top four and also considering the devastating 4-0 Coppa Italia home loss to Frosinone in December, the Champions League remains their last chance to achieve something big this season.

The Partenopei needed a last-gasp equalizer to rescue a point against Genoa in the Serie A on Saturday afternoon. Cyril Ngonge, who joined Napoli from fellow Serie A side Hellas Verona in January, was introduced as a second-half substitute to be the savior in what was Walter Mazzarri's last game in charge.

With only one victory in their last five matches across all competitions, Napoli's struggles continued and this ultimately led to the sacking of interim boss Walter Mazzarri, who has been replaced by Slovakia national team manager Francesco Calzona.

Mazzarri was fired on Monday, himself having replaced Rudi Garcia in October, so Calzona became their third head coach of the season.

The new Napoli boss arrived in Naples on the eve of a crunch Champions League game against Barcelona and is expected to permanently shelve the three-man defense and return to the 4-3-3 system.

The 55-year-old manager has been part of Maurizio Sarri's coaching staff and his main assistant in all of his manager jobs until Napoli. Calzona was also a technical coach at Napoli to work alongside Luciano Spalletti, before his appointment as Slovakia national team head coach in August 2022.

Calzona has a massive boost for his debut with Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen back for the first time since late December, when he left Naples for the Africa Cup of Nations, where his country lost the final to Ivory Coast.

Osimhen scored 26 goals in 32 Serie A games last term (31 goals across all competitions) to inspire Napoli's triumph but he hasn't been that prolific during 2023-24, with 7 goals in just 13 top-flight appearances.

Elsewhere, Mario Rui is expected to start at left-back, with Juan Jesus and Amir Rrahmani favorites to start at the heart of the defense.

Meanwhile, Poland midfielder Piotr Zielinski was omitted from the Champions League squad list this winter after refusing to sign a new contract, so it will be either Hamed Junior Traore or Jens Cajuste in central midfield.

Barcelona Betting Preview (+145 at Everygame)

Barcelona are on a four-game unbeaten run in all competitions but none of them were against an opponent of higher caliber. Victories over Osasuna, Alaves and Celta Vigo, and a disappointing 3-3 home draw with second-from-bottom Granada are still earning points but the defending champions remain third in La Liga, eight points behind arch rivals Real Madrid and they also suffered frustrating defeats in the Spanish Super Cup (4-1 to Real Madrid) and the Copa del Rey (4-2 at Athletic Bilbao) last month.

After a series of poor performances and results, Xavi announced his decision to leave the club at the end of the season and he might have one last chance to restore some of the lost pride with a positive Champions League campaign.

The Catalan giants get their Champions League knockout stages campaign underway on Wednesday when they travel to face Scudetto holders Napoli at the Stadio Maradona in the first leg of their last 16 clash.

A really bad outcome in Naples could mean that Barcelona would be staring down the barrel of a trophyless season and various reports state that it could cost Xavi his job now, rather than in the summer.

Xavi hopes that his big hitters can make the difference against Napoli, and especially Robert Lewandowski, who has returned to form in recent weeks. The Poland forward had scored four goals in his last three matches, including a brace at Celta Vigo last weekend.

Alejandro Balde, Marcos Alonso, Gavi and Ferran Torres are all long-term absentees for Barcelona, but Joao Felix took part in the last full training session in Naples and the Portuguese forward should be available for selection.

Ferran Torres is in the final phase of his recovery, but the Spanish international will not be back until Getafe this weekend at the earliest.

Possible Starting Lineups of Napoli and Barcelona

Napoli: Alex Meret - Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui - Frank Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Hamed Junior Traore - Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. (4-3-3)

Barcelona: Marc-André ter Stegen - Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Ínigo Martínez, Joao Cancelo - ?lkay Gundogan, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong - Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Pedri. (4-3-3)

Spooky Express Betting Prediction

Barcelona and Napoli are both massively underperforming over the season so far. And everything happening around these two clubs makes the game even more unpredictable.

Francesco Calzona will have a challenging debut against a sleeping European giant, whose name carries a greater quality than its current reality.

Napoli have won only one of their three Champions League home games this season - a 2-0 victory over Braga in December - while they failed to beat Union Berlin (1-1) and also lost 3-2 to Real Madrid.

Barcelona, on the other hand, have won their first away game in this season's competition as they beat FC Porto 1-0 in early-October, but Xavi's side lost the following two trips to Shakhtar Donetsk (1-0) and Antwerp (3-2).

With that said, we might witness a cagey tactical battle where both sides might find it more important not to lose the game.

Spooky Express Free Play: Under 2.5 Goals +105 at Everygame for 5/10 Units

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